[daniel-s]

Sorry to be negative on the web, but the TIOBE index has no value whatsoever and is complete gibberish. Nobody should be paying attention to it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/m76vWNr83wo

[fasterik]

I don't care one way or another about the TIOBE index, but that video is obnoxious and isn't making an argument or presenting data. Not sure why anyone would be convinced by this.

[daniel-s]

I just linked a short because I figured it fit into the attention span of a typical internet user.

If you want something more reasoned there's this: https://blog.nindalf.com/posts/stop-citing-tiobe/

[BrandoElFollito]

So what would be the property reference for "average language popularity"?

[kibwen]

Even if TIOBE wasn't garbage (and let's be clear: TIOBE is and always has been garbage for a litany of reasons), no such reference would exist, because the question is ill-specified.

Are you a non-technical manager? Then hire people who know the language your company has always used, or otherwise whatever languages your hiring pool is familiar with.

Are you a technical manager? Then you evaluate languages based on the intersection of hiring availability and technical merits.

Are you a student? Then use whatever language looks most interesting.

Are you an educator? Then use whatever language best expresses the concepts of the specific curriculum.

Are you an open source contributor? Then select a language to work in based on technical merits, personal taste, and community interaction.

"Popularity" is not one thing, it's dozens of things which all vary based on context.