According to Prince Edward Island’s Vital Statistics Office, the most popular baby names on the island in 2021 were Alice and Oliver.
Here are PEI’s top girl names and top boy names of 2021:
Girl Names
- Alice, 9 baby girls
- Scarlett, 8
- Grace, Isla & Ivy, 6 each (3-way tie)
- Amelia, Anna, Annie, Ava, Charlotte, Ella, Ellie, Everly, Isabella, Lexi, Lucy, Maeve, Olivia, Sophia, Sophie & Willow, 5 each (16-way tie)
- Adeline, Eliza, Eloise, Evelyn, Georgia, Katherine, Kinsley, Nova* & Sadie, 4 each (9-way tie)
- Abigail, Adalyn, Addison, Brynlee, Claire, Clara, Emery, Iris, Lydia, Lyla, Nina, Sarah & Skylar, 3 each (13-way tie)
Boy Names
- Oliver, 13 baby boys
- Jack & Theo, 11 each (tie)
- Liam, 9
- Austin, Ezra, Jackson, Leo & Noah, 8 each (5-way tie)
- Benjamin, Emmett, Ethan, Lucas* & Theodore, 7 each (5-way tie)
- Charlie, Henry, Luca & William, 6 each (4-way tie)
- Gavin, Hudson, James, Owen & Rowan, 5 each (5-way tie)
- Arlo, Beau, Bennett, Elijah, Elliot, Everett, Finn, Levi, Lincoln, Max, Remy, Ryker, Sawyer, Simon, Walter & Weston, 4 each (16-way tie)
These rankings are based on data covering the year up to December 13th. By that date, 619 baby girls and 704 baby boys had been born on the island.
Unexpectedly, PEI released a complete — albeit provisional — list of baby names this time around. So this year we get to check out some of the rare names bestowed just once on the island last year:
Unique Girl Names | Unique Boy Names |
Anamika, Athaliah, Brayleigh, Cloud Jrai, Drienne, Élodie, Fearyn, Gray, Haddow, Ishani, Jorie, Kasia, Lorriel, Meekhal, Morayo, Neeltje, Olive-Belle, Paloma, Rilla, Ruthy, Seren, Sudisha, Tomi, Valeah, Zera | Abdul-Rahman, Bane, Berrick, Chivir, Draven, Elon, Felix, Grayden, Hanzebriel, Ibaad, Jordy, Kelton, Leonidas, Maniriho, Marchbank, Najid, Oaks, Porter, Ranaridh, Revel, Sulla, Tully, Wyndham, Yanick, Zeyang |
The boy name Bane may have been inspired by the DC Comics supervillain Bane, and the boy name Ranaridh is similar to the name of former Cambodian prime minister Norodom Ranariddh, who died in late 2021.
Finally, in 2020, the top baby names on the island were Nora/Charlotte (tie) and Hudson.
*Nova and Lucas might actually be 4th-place names. My source included conflicting information.
Source: Alice, Oliver most popular P.E.I. baby names in 2021 (12/29)
Rilla was likely inspired by the book of the same name, written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, a native of PEI.
Good theory! Here’s more on Rilla of Ingleside (1921)…