According to New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs, the most popular baby names in the country last year were Charlotte and Oliver.
Here are New Zealand’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2021:
Girl Names
- Charlotte, 227 baby girls
- Isla, 214
- Amelia, 206
- Olivia, 185
- Ava, 184
- Willow, 180
- Lily, 174
- Isabella, 171
- Mila, 170
- Ella, 165
Boy Names
- Oliver, 308 baby boys
- Noah, 265
- Jack, 235
- Leo, 234
- George, 222
- Charlie, 200
- Lucas, 190
- Theodore, 187
- William, 181
- Luca, 172
In the girls’ top 10, Isabella and Mila replaced Harper and Sophie.
In the boys’ top 10, Theodore and Luca replaced Thomas and Hunter.
Manaia comes in as the most evenly-split gender-neutral name, at a 50/50 split for boys and girls, with Quinn sitting just below the top of the list.
The top Maori baby names, according to the Te Taura Whiri Maori Language Commission, were…
Maori girl (kotiro) names
- Mia, 164 baby girls
- Aria, 120
- Maia, 97
- Aurora, 86
- Amaia, 63
- Kiara, 52
- Kaia, 50
- Amara, 44 (tie)
- Kora, 44 (tie)
- Maria, 43
Maori boy (tama) names
- Nikau, 93 baby boys
- Ari, 62
- Niko, 47
- Koa, 46
- Mateo, 45
- Keanu, 44
- Mikaere, 41 (tie)
- Manaia, 41 (tie)
- Kairo, 27 (tie)
- Kiwa, 27 (tie)
It should be noted, however, that not all of these “Maori” names are, in fact, Maori names. They were picked out of New Zealand’s national rankings because they “include vowels and consonants that appear in the Maori alphabet” — not because they correspond to actual Maori words. This is how non-Maori names like Aurora, Maria, Ari and Keanu end up in the Maori rankings.
(The Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages recently wrote about the difficulties involved in identifying Maori names, and revealed that he might stop releasing Maori rankings altogether after 2021.)
In 2020, the top two names overall in New Zealand were Isla and Oliver.
Sources: Top Baby Names in New Zealand, Charlotte and Oliver were New Zealand’s top baby names in 2021, Most popular Maori baby names for 2021, Top Maori baby names don’t have to be Maori words
Image: Adapted from Flag of New Zealand (public domain)
