Girl names on the rise in Canada, 2023

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Which names were the trendiest among baby girls born in Canada last year?

Below you’ll find Canada’s fastest-rising and highest-debuting girl names of 2023.

Rises (absolute)

Here are the girl names that saw the biggest increases in usage in terms of absolute change (number of babies) from 2022 to 2023:

  1. Sofia, rose from 763 to 887 baby girls (+124)
  2. Lainey, 77 to 189 (+112)
  3. Maeve, 368 to 462 (+94)
  4. Margot, 230 to 319 (+89)
  5. Rehmat, 151 to 237 (+86)

Lainey was influenced by Lainey Wilson, a Louisiana-born country singer who has also made appearances on the popular TV series Yellowstone. (In the U.S., Lainey was one of the fastest-rising girl names of 2023.)

Rises (relative)

Here are the girl names that saw the biggest increases in usage in terms of relative change (percentage of babies) from 2022 to 2023:

  1. Anant, rose from 5 to 39 baby girls (680% increase)
  2. Tiaraoluwa, 5 to 20 (300%)
  3. Mehnoor, 5 to 19 (280%)
  4. Hasrat, 12 to 43 (258%)
  5. Bibi, 5 to 17 (240%) [tie]
  6. Japnaaz, 5 to 17 (240%) [tie]

Debuts

Finally, here are the girl names that debuted most impressively in Canada’s baby name data in 2023:

  1. Barkat, 46 baby girls
  2. Aizal, 18
  3. Elaria, 16
  4. Adab, 13 [tie]
  5. Rhaenyra, 13 [tie]

I’m not sure why nearly four dozen Canadian girls were named Barkat (Hindi for “prosperity”) last year. The Indian movie Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga (2023) featured a fictional location called Al-Barkat, but I doubt this is the explanation. (In the U.S., Barkat also debuted in 2023 — but with 10 babies as opposed to 46.)

Rhaenyra was inspired by the character Rhaenyra Targaryen from TV series House of the Dragon. (In the U.S., Rhaenyra debuted in 2022 and rose significantly in 2023.)

Other girl-name debuts in the Canadian data included Idalia (9), Lagertha (7), Lilibet (6), Azzurra (5), Lilac (5), and Purity (5).

Do you have thoughts/theories about any of the names above?

Sources: First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators (Number) – Statistics Canada, Baby Names Observatory – Statistics Canada

Image: Adapted from Turkey-2036 by Dennis Jarvis under CC BY-SA 2.0.

One thought on “Girl names on the rise in Canada, 2023

  1. I just googled how Queen Elizabeth felt about having a great-granddaughter named Lilibet. I guess it depends on whether the internet is to be trusted, but I am leaning much more towards the side of, “She was appalled.” I know I was appalled. I think it’s a very cute nickname, but it’s a personal family nickname, and it made me sad that Harry and Meghan sold it out. (Then again, perhaps they did it vengefully, for the way the royals treated Meghan… in which case, I still disapprove of using the name, but I also sort of understand.)

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