Last year, the Commonwealth of Virginia — which is home to more than 8.7 million people — welcomed roughly 95,000 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Charlotte and Liam, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records.
Here are Virginia’s top 15 girl names and top 15 boy names of 2023:
Girl names
- Charlotte
- Emma
- Olivia*
- Sophia
- Amelia
- Evelyn
- Ava
- Isabella
- Elizabeth
- Mia
- Eleanor
- Harper
- Sofia
- Luna
- Abigail
*In the press release, Olivia was spelled “Oliva.” I’m assuming this was a typo.
Boy names
- Liam
- Noah
- James
- Oliver
- William
- Lucas
- Henry
- Theodore
- Benjamin
- Levi
- Elijah
- Luke
- John
- Michael
- Gabriel
The state also revealed the top names among the state’ four largest ethnic groups: White, Black, Hispanic and Asian. (According to the most recent CDC data, from 2021, 54.3% of Virginia’s babies were born to non-Hispanic White mothers, 20.0% to Black mothers, 15.7% to Hispanic mothers, and 7.3% to Asian mothers.)
These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s White babies:
| Girl names, White | Boy names, White |
| 1. Charlotte 2. Olivia 3. Emma 4. Amelia 5. Sophia | 1. James 2. William 3. Oliver 4. Henry 5. Liam |
These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Black babies:
| Girl names, Black | Boy names, Black |
| 1. Ava 2. Naomi 3. Nova 4. Serenity 5. Autumn | 1. Noah 2. Amir 3. Josiah 4. Elijah 5. Legend |
These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Hispanic babies:
| Girl names, Hispanic | Boy names, Hispanic |
| 1. Mia 2. Camila* 3. Genesis* 4. Isabella 5. Sofia | 1. Liam 2. Mateo 3. Dylan 4. Thiago 5. Lucas |
*In the press release, Camila and Genesis were spelled “Camilla” and “Genisis.” I’m assuming these were typos as well.
And, finally, these were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Asian babies:
| Girl names, Asian | Boy names, Asian |
| 1. Olivia 2. Ava 3. Sophia 4. Sophie 5. Charlotte | 1. Noah 2. Lucas 3. Muhammad 4. Ethan 5. Alexander |
Here’s a link to Virginia’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
Sources:
- Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records Announces Top Baby Names of 2023
- Births: Final Data for 2021 [PDF], National Vital Statistics Reports, vol. 72, no. 1, 31 Jan. 2023.
Image: Adapted from Flag of Virginia (public domain)
Good gravy; how many typos were there? I think they need a new Press Officer?
As someone who used to do proofreading, I beg of them to get a proofreader! So many places need a proofreader but they assume they can save money and spellcheck will catch the issues. It doesn’t!!! Pay money for a proofreader!!!