Popular baby names in New York City, 2016

According to New York City’s Health Department, the most popular baby names in the city last year were Olivia and Liam.

Here are New York City’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2016:

Girl names

1. Olivia, 564 baby girls
2. Sophia, 557
3. Emma, 525
4. Isabella, 469
5. Mia, 468
6. Ava, 450
7. Emily, 388
8. Leah, 348
9. Sarah, 338
10. Madison, 325
11. Charlotte, 320 (tie)
12. Sofia, 320 (tie)
13. Chloe, 314
14. Abigail, 285
15. Rachel, 269
16. Victoria, 256
17. Amelia, 254
18. Esther, 248
19. Zoe, 244
20. Maya, 239
21. Elizabeth, 220
22. Grace, 213
23. Camila, 197 (tie)
24. Ella, 197 (tie)
25. Sara, 196
26. Riley, 189
27. Chaya, 183
28. Valentina, 182
29. Ariana, 177
30. Hannah, 169
31. Chana, 166 (tie)
32. Miriam, 166 (tie)
33. Hailey, 164
34. Gabriella, 158
35. Ashley, 157 (tie)
36. Penelope, 157 (tie)
37. Scarlett, 156
38. Layla, 152
39. Alexandra, 149
40. Evelyn, 145
41. Samantha, 142
42. Mila, 141
43. Aria, 139
44. Avery, 138 (tie)
45. Zoey, 138 (tie)
46. Alice, 137 (tie)
47. Arianna, 137 (tie)
48. Eva, 135 (tie)
49. Kayla, 135 (tie)
50. Alexa, 134

Boy names

1. Liam, 710 baby boys
2. Jacob, 696
3. Ethan, 690
4. Noah, 631
5. Aiden, 536
6. Matthew, 535
7. Daniel, 522
8. Lucas, 503
9. Michael, 502
10. Dylan, 495
11. David, 479
12. Alexander, 476
13. Jayden, 464
14. Ryan, 437
15. Joseph, 421
16. Sebastian, 396
17. Mason, 395
18. James, 383
19. Benjamin, 379
20. Joshua, 328
21. Samuel, 326
22. William, 304
23. Christopher, 303
24. Isaac, 301
25. Aaron, 296
26. Henry, 295
27. Anthony, 292 (tie)
28. Gabriel, 292 (tie)
29. Adam, 280
30. Logan, 276 (tie)
31. Nicholas, 276 (tie)
32. Oliver, 270
33. Elijah, 264
34. John, 263
35. Nathan, 249
36. Andrew, 247
37. Moshe, 242
38. Jonathan, 241
39. Julian, 238
40. Jack, 227
41. Abraham, 224
42. Adrian, 222 (tie)
43. Justin, 222 (tie)
44. Leo, 220
45. Christian, 206 (tie)
46. Josiah, 206 (tie)
47. Jeremiah, 202
48. Angel, 200
49. Muhammad, 193
50. Eli, 188 (4-way tie)
51. Ian, 188 (4-way tie)
52. Jason, 188 (4-way tie)
53. Kevin, 188 (4-way tie)

The top baby names within specific ethnic/racial groups were…

	Top girl names	Top boy names
Hispanic	1. Isabella, 276 2. Sophia, 261 3. Mia, 228 4. Emma, 197 5. Camila, 180	1. Liam, 387 2. Jacob, 351 3. Dylan, 312 4. Matthew, 297 5. Noah, 269
Asian and Pacific Islander	1. Olivia, 172 2. Chloe, 112 3. Sophia, 104 4. Emily, 99 (tie) 5. Emma, 99 (tie)	1. Ethan, 193 2. Ryan, 160 3. Muhammad, 157 4. Lucas, 148 5. Jayden, 138
Non-Hispanic White	1. Olivia, 230 2. Rachel, 221 3. Esther, 209 4. Sarah, 202 5. Emma, 201	1. Joseph, 261 2. Michael, 260 3. David, 255 4. Moshe, 239 5. Jacob, 236
Non-Hispanic Black	1. Ava, 109 2. Madison, 104 3. Skylar, 68 4. Riley, 65 5. Aaliyah, 57	1. Noah, 148 2. Aiden, 137 3. Elijah, 116 4. Liam, 108 5. Ethan, 107

Among the names given to just 10 babies each in NYC last year were the girl names Amberly, Florence, Jannatul, Paloma, and Thalia, and the boy names Henri, Ibraheem, Mordche, Oumar, and Terry.

One year earlier, in 2015, NYC’s top names (overall) were Olivia and Ethan.

Sources (all originally from NYC.gov):

• Health Department Announces Olivia and Liam Are Most Popular Names for 2016
• Popularity of New York City Baby Names, 2016 (pdf)
• Popularity of New York City Female Baby Names by Ethnicity, 2016 (pdf)
• Popularity of New York City Male Baby Names by Ethnicity, 2016 (pdf)

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

[Latest update: Nov. 2025]