Olivia, Liam and other top baby names of 2021, plus what’s popular now
(CNN) — In 2021, parents were tired. The pandemic was still raging. Babies couldn’t (and still can’t) get vaccinated for protection from COVID-19.
Many new parents weren’t taking risks with their infants’ health — or, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration, with their names.
The federal agency’s list of the top baby names of 2021 are … mostly the same as the 2020 rankings.
Absent are “Doja” and “Ye” or other zeitgeisty names — but you’ll find Emma and Elijah, among other timeless monikers.
Once again, Olivia was the top name for baby girls. In second, as was the case in 2020, was Emma, followed by Charlotte, Amelia and Ava respectively. (Edged out of the top five this year was Sophia, though the name came in sixth.)
For baby boys, the name Liam once again reigned supreme, followed by Noah, Oliver, Elijah and James. William cracked the top five in 2020 but placed sixth in 2021.
Female baby names have stayed relatively stable for the last decade — in 2011, Emma, Olivia, Sophia and Ava were all in the top five (plus Isabella, which fell to seventh place in 2021), per the US Social Security Administration.
Meanwhile, a decade earlier, only Noah cracked the top five of male names — instead, there are probably a good amount of Jacobs, Masons, Williams and Jaydens entering middle school this year.
But some parents are setting new trends: The names that are growing fastest in popularity include Amiri, Ozzy and Loyal for males and Raya, Wrenly and Ocean for females. Look out for babies named for stones, like Onyx, or celebrities, like Bowie, or colors, like Navy. Beautiful names, all!
Top 10 female baby names
- Olivia
- Emma
- Charlotte
- Amelia
- Ava
- Sophia
- Isabella
- Mia
- Evelyn
- Harper
Top 10 male baby names
- Liam
- Noah
- Oliver
- Elijah
- James
- William
- Benjamin
- Lucas
- Henry
- Theodore