According to the government of Alberta, the most popular baby names in the Canadian province in 2018 were Olivia and Liam.
Here are Alberta’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2018:
Girl Names
1. Olivia, 235 baby girls
2. Emma, 230
3. Charlotte, 175
4. Emily, 164
5. Ava, 161
6. Abigail, 153
7. Harper, 150
8. Sophia, 146
9. Amelia, 145
10. Elizabeth, 130
Boy Names
1. Liam, 225 baby boys
2. Oliver, 212
3. Noah, 199
4. Ethan, 188
5. Logan & Lucas, 182 each (tie)
6. Jacob, 181
7. William, 178
8. Benjamin, 176
9. Jack, 167
10. Alexander & James, 158 each (tie)
In the girls’ top 10, Harper and Elizabeth replaced Isabella, Aria, Chloe and Lily.
New to the boys’ top 10 are Alexander and James. (No replacements due to ties.)
Rare baby names that were bestowed just once in Alberta last year include…
| Unique Girl Names | Unique Boy Names |
|---|---|
| Aleftina, Assurance, Balsam, Clarenelle, Desneiges, Eulogia, Finja, Geo, Havolyn, Iffoxla, Iracebeth, Joxerlee, Kinnitty, Lemon-Marie, Mirdza, Nesslin, Ozzlynn, Progress, Quindalyn, Rizabell, Stiorra, Tavery, Trusarra, Urveen, Vemia, Wichahpi, Xianelle, Yubelissa, Zenley, Zhinetor | Archange, Beauxbandy, Chapter, Dax-Goku, Durden, Einjehl, Fristan, George-lucas, Grey-Cloud, Homeostasie, Irwin, Jhelton, Krypton, Lonnie, Mycroft, Nitrix, Obasha, Pavanga, Quiel, Rhonj, Scythe, Supremo, Tadmor, Thorpal, Untred, Valour, Wilmarion, Xylas, Yuzhi, Zackon |
And a few more single-use girl names, all space-themed: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Galaxy, Universe.
Possible explanations for a few of the above:
- Iracebeth (based on the word irascible) was the name given to the Red Queen in the 2010 Tim Burton movie Alice in Wonderland.
- Durden was the surname of the main character in Fight Club. (I’m very surprised this one has never appeared in the U.S. data before, frankly.)
- Mycroft Holmes was Sherlock’s older brother. Mycroft AI, “the world’s first open source assistant,” was named after Mycroft Holmes.
- Nitrix is a brand-name bodybuilding supplement described as a “concentrated nitric oxide precursor.”
- Rhonj happens to be the acronym for The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Could this be a Real Housewives acronym being used as a baby name?!
In 2017, the top two names in Alberta were Olivia and Noah.
Sources: Alberta’s Top Baby Names, Alberta’s top baby names for 2018
Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)
Wicahpi is Lakota Sioux and means “star.”
Stiorra means “star” in Old Norse (I was looking it up just now as it debuted in the US charts in 2020). It was the name of a character in the TV series “The Last Kingdom”.
Thanks, Clare, for that reference!
Hello I am from the U.S. and I named my son “Durden” in 2009. And yes it was because of the Movie Fight Club ! He is the first Durden that we know of and this one from the article is the 2nd !
Thank you for the comment Jennifer!
I bet there are at least a few more baby Durdens out there as well…