Set aside your afternoon, because the Social Security Administration has released all of its baby name stats for 2021, and you can explore them forever.
For the third year in a row, Olivia is the most popular girl’s baby name and Liam is the most popular boy’s baby name in the United States.
Liam has been the most popular boy name since 2017, and it’s been in the top 10 since 2012. The name is of Irish origin and means “strong will” or “protector.”
Olivia has been the reigning girl’s name since 2019 and the cute pick has been in the top 10 for 20 years now. It’s a classic Latin name that’s root means “olive tree.”
Top 10 Girls’ Names
- Olivia
- Emma
- Charlotte
- Amelia
- Ava
- Sophia
- Isabella
- Mia
- Evelyn
- harper
Top 10 Boys’ Names
- Liam
- Noah
- Oliver
- Elijah
- James
- William
- Benjamin
- Lucas
- Henry
- Theodore
For the boys, the only big move in the top 10 was Theodore unseating Alexander for the last spot.
In the girls’ top 10, a few names swapped places, but the top ten continue to reign. In the top 20, perennial favorite Emily has fallen off for the first time since 1986, and Scarlett has appeared for the first time since 2017.
There were some interesting trends lower down in the list as well.
A couple of baby girl names dropped significantly in usage for obvious reasons: Karen had one of the biggest drops in popularity, from 828 to 1091. And Alexa dropped from 229 to 442 in one of the other biggest slides. The biggest, steepest drop in popularity was for Denise/Denisse — not sure why! Is there a terrible woman named Denise roaming around the country and making trouble?
Girl names that are quickly scaling the popularity ranks include Raya, Wrenley, Angelique, Vida, and Emberlynn. While they aren’t super-popular yet, they are the movers and shakers of the year — don’t be surprised if you see these names on more baby announcements in 2022.
On the boy’s side, the biggest names that plummeted in popularity were Jaxtyn, Karsyn, and Korbyn — signaling, it seems, that alternative spellings of trendy boy names are on their way out.
The boys names that are becoming popular the most quickly? Amiri, Eliam, Colter, Ozzy, Loyal, and Khai. Amiri is likely gaining popularity alongside the clothing brand of the same name, and Eliam is a Biblical name that’s a fun twist on the reigning baby name Liam.
