According to the government of Alberta, the most popular baby names in the Canadian province in 2019 were Olivia and Noah.
Here are Alberta’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:
Girl Names
- Olivia, 229 baby girls
- Charlotte, 188
- Sophia, 181
- Emma, 178
- Ava, 161
- Amelia, 159
- Emily, 150
- Abigail, 141
- Hannah, 137
- Elizabeth, 124
Boy Names
- Noah, 275 baby boys
- Liam, 234
- Oliver, 225
- Ethan, 213
- Jack, 198
- William, 185
- Lucas, 174
- Owen, 167
- Benjamin, 163
- Jacob, 162
In the girls’ top 10, Hannah returned and ousted Harper.
In the boys’ top 10, Owen replaced Logan, Alexander, and James. (It’s uneven because there were two ties in the 2018 top 10.)
Rare baby names that were bestowed just once in Alberta last year include…
| Unique Girl Names | Unique Boy Names |
| Anesidora, Aviendha, Brungus, Castrence, Calluna, Doxa, Eilish, Fitia-Jane, Giannajoe, Historia, Isleigh, Jennathul, Kriscilla, Kipper, Kurdistan, Lilith-Luna, Lillix, Loonskin, Maxeld, Navaline, Neepin, Ovalah, Phoemella, Ruftael, Starbrit, Tenacious, Timely, Uzuvira, Verily, Waskway, Xanthal, Yuvleen, Zsanelle | Abundance, Apollo-July, BlueJay, Couloir, Cousteau, Cowboy, Despot, Ellejon, Felix-Ivan, Glenter, Gravity, Handsome-Jack, Harmonick, Humbly, Iguttaq, Iskotew, Jenzieland, Kitterick, Luxton, Maxjay, Nomatic, Ozmo, Pétain, Ranxel, Revic, Sprocket, Thundersky, Uael, Varis, Whirlwind, Xiron, Ylan-Maël, Zagger |
Explanations and/or potential influences for a few of the above:
- Aviendha was a character from Wheel of Time book series (1990-2013) by author Robert Jordan.
- Waskway is the Cree word for “birch” or “birch tree.”
- Couloir is the word for “a steep gully in alpine terrain” (from the French word for “corridor” or “hallway”).
- Iguttaq is the Inuktitut word for “bumblebee.”
- Iskotew is the Cree word for “fire.”
- Nomatic is a company that creates minimalist travel products.
- Revic (“revolutionary” + “optics”) is a company that makes rifle scopes.
In 2018, the top two names in Alberta were Olivia and Liam.
Sources: Alberta’s Top Baby Names, Alberta reveals top baby names of 2019, Online Cree Dictionary, Couloir – Avalanche.org
Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)
I wonder why Canadian parents choose a historical loaded name like Pétain for their baby boy. For the unaware: Marshal Pétain was the leader of “Vichy-France”, the unoccupied part of France during part of world war II, but completely dependent from the Third Reich and collaborating with it. Later in WW II, Vichy France was occupied, too, and he became a representative of the German military administration.
I was wondering the same thing — it seems like a very odd choice, given that association.
Aviendha! She’s one of my favorites! So happy to see a real-life baby wearing the name!
The unique names always lead to so many never to be answered questions….
Giannajoe — after Aunt Gianna & Grandpa Joe, or did somebody just really love their G I Joe? And is Starbrit pronounced the same as Star “bright”?
I do hope (unless they are twins) that someday Maxeld & Maxjay meet and have a whole family of Maxkids.
Maxkids, haha!
I am happy to see that some parents chose the name Blue Jay/Bluejay for their babies.
I personally want to change my name to Blue Jay. I just think its so beautiful.