According to data released on June 16th by the government of Alberta, the most popular baby names in the province in 2016 were (again) Olivia and Liam.
Here are Alberta’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2016:
Girl names
- Olivia, 292 baby girls
- Emma, 249
- Sophia, 215
- Ava, 207
- Emily, 187
- Charlotte, 180
- Amelia, 172
- Abigail, 171
- Chloe, 166
- Aria, 137
Boy names
- Liam, 277 baby boys
- Benjamin, 252
- Lucas, 247
- Oliver, 230
- Noah, 228
- William, 213
- Ethan, 205
- Jack, 197
- Lincoln, 192
- Owen, 189
In the girls’ top 10, Aria replaced Ella and Avery (there was a tie for 7th in 2015).
In the boys’ top 10, Jack, Lincoln, and Owen replaced Mason, Logan, and Alexander.
And here’s a sampling of names from the other end of the list. Each of these was given to a single baby in Alberta last year:
- Unique Girl Names: Airadessa, Bitel-Shishai, Caitlove, Deslie, Evadelle, Finity, Griffiella, Huldah, Ibex, Jananya, Kemdirim, Lobna, Mavie, Niniola, Olanna, Petrichor, Qudsia, Riversong, Savindee, Toscana, Ulanah, Valissa, Wesla, Xyryl, Yagana, Zedrina
- Unique Boy Names: Addrick, Barristan, Cazzwell, Dino, Erasmus, Fifth, Grayer, Hansel, Igzy, Jonesy, Kayvence, Lenroy, Mahalaleel, Noyan, Orson, Penn, Quayde, Redsky, Salumu, Tinotenda, Umber, Vanden, Wally, Xanjoe, Yan, Zeaston
That’s the first time I’ve ever seen Petrichor used as a baby name! Petrichor is that pleasant, earthy scent associated with rainfall. The word was coined by Australian scientists in the ’60s by combining the ancient Greek words petra (“stone”) and ichor (the fluid that flowed in the veins of the gods).
I wonder if there’s any chance that Petrichor will become a trendy nature name one day. What do you think?
Sources: Frequency and Ranking of Baby Names by Year and Gender – Open Government (Alberta), Alberta’s top baby names for 2016
Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)
Interesting that the percentages of names beginning with vowels vs consonants were reversed with 7 of the top 10 girls names stating with vowels, but only 3 for the boys. And it was essentially the same last year as well.
Thanks for the info about Petrichor — learned something new today!
As far as nature names go, Ibex is more surprising to me than Petrichor.
Interesting to see the pop culture names Barristan and Riversong – from Game of Thrones and Doctor Who, respectively.
I just started watching a BBC series called Father Brown…at least for the first few episodes, there’s a Petrichor listed in the credits!
@Elizabeth – You’re right! I found Petrichor Bharali at IMDb. Looks as though he goes by Arun Bharali most of the time, tho, so “Petrichor” probably wasn’t his birth name. Regardless, great catch.