Last year, the California county of Sonoma welcomed about 2,500 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Liam for boys and a three-way tie between Amelia, Camila, and Mia for girls.
Here are Sonoma’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2024:
Girl names
- Amelia, 13 baby girls (3-way tie)
- Camila, 13 (3-way tie)
- Mia, 13 (3-way tie)
- Emma, 12
- Charlotte, 11
- Luna, 10 (tie)
- Scarlett, 10 (tie)
- Charlie, 8 (6-way tie)
- Elena, 8 (6-way tie)
- Eliana, 8 (6-way tie)
- Gianna, 8 (6-way tie)
- Lucy, 8 (6-way tie)
- Valentina, 8 (6-way tie)
- Grace, 7 (9-way tie)
- Isabella, 7 (9-way tie)
- Isla, 7 (9-way tie)
- Lucia, 7 (9-way tie)
- Madison, 7 (9-way tie)
- Maya, 7 (9-way tie)
- Natalia, 7 (9-way tie)
- Quinn, 7 (9-way tie)
- Sophia, 7 (9-way tie)
- Ava, 6 (15-way tie)
- Ella, 6 (15-way tie)
- Evelyn, 6 (15-way tie)
- Hazel, 6 (15-way tie)
- Layla, 6 (15-way tie)
- Leah, 6 (15-way tie)
- Lillian, 6 (15-way tie)
- Olivia, 6 (15-way tie)
- Riley, 6 (15-way tie)
- River, 6 (15-way tie)
- Ruby, 6 (15-way tie)
- Sofia, 6 (15-way tie)
- Victoria, 6 (15-way tie)
- Violet, 6 (15-way tie)
- Willow, 6 (15-way tie)
- Amari, 5 (7-way tie)
- Genesis, 5 (7-way tie)
- Hannah, 5 (7-way tie)
- Harper, 5 (7-way tie)
- Itzel, 5 (7-way tie)
- Penelope, 5 (7-way tie)
- Sophie, 5 (7-way tie)
- Amaya, 4 (19-way tie)
- Ariel, 4 (19-way tie)
- Athena, 4 (19-way tie)
- Aubrey, 4 (19-way tie)
- Cecilia, 4 (19-way tie)
- Emery, 4 (19-way tie)
- Georgia, 4 (19-way tie)
- Hadley, 4 (19-way tie)
- Jade, 4 (19-way tie)
- Josephine, 4 (19-way tie)
- Kimberly, 4 (19-way tie)
- Leilani, 4 (19-way tie)
- Lia, 4 (19-way tie)
- Lily, 4 (19-way tie)
- Maeve, 4 (19-way tie)
- Mila, 4 (19-way tie)
- Nevaeh, 4 (19-way tie)
- Sienna, 4 (19-way tie)
- Zoey, 4 (19-way tie)
Boy names
- Liam, 22 baby boys
- Sebastian, 17
- Noah, 14
- James, 13 (tie)
- Santiago, 13 (tie)
- Dylan, 12 (tie)
- Mateo, 12 (tie)
- Damian, 11 (tie)
- Luca, 11 (tie)
- Ivan, 10 (3-way tie)
- Julian, 10 (3-way tie)
- Leo, 10 (3-way tie)
- Ethan, 9 (5-way tie)
- Mason, 9 (5-way tie)
- Miles, 9 (5-way tie)
- Theodore, 9 (5-way tie)
- William, 9 (5-way tie)
- Angel, 8 (3-way tie)
- Christian, 8 (3-way tie)
- Lucas, 8 (3-way tie)
- Adriel, 7 (9-way tie)
- Asher, 7 (9-way tie)
- Emiliano, 7 (9-way tie)
- Hudson, 7 (9-way tie)
- Jackson, 7 (9-way tie)
- John, 7 (9-way tie)
- Joshua, 7 (9-way tie)
- Levi, 7 (9-way tie)
- Logan, 7 (9-way tie)
- Benjamin, 6 (9-way tie)
- Cameron, 6 (9-way tie)
- Emilio, 6 (9-way tie)
- Henry, 6 (9-way tie)
- Jaxon, 6 (9-way tie)
- Jesus, 6 (9-way tie)
- Jonathan, 6 (9-way tie)
- Lorenzo, 6 (9-way tie)
- Roman, 6 (9-way tie)
- Adrian, 5 (19-way tie)
- Alejandro, 5 (19-way tie)
- Bodhi, 5 (19-way tie)
- Cooper, 5 (19-way tie)
- David, 5 (19-way tie)
- Dean, 5 (19-way tie)
- Diego, 5 (19-way tie)
- Javier, 5 (19-way tie)
- Leonardo, 5 (19-way tie)
- Luke, 5 (19-way tie)
- Matteo, 5 (19-way tie)
- Michael, 5 (19-way tie)
- Milan, 5 (19-way tie)
- Oliver, 5 (19-way tie)
- Owen, 5 (19-way tie)
- Ryan, 5 (19-way tie)
- Ryder, 5 (19-way tie)
- Waylon, 5 (19-way tie)
- Wyatt, 5 (19-way tie)
And here’s a sampling of the many names that were bestowed just once in Sonoma last year:
Unique girl names | Unique boy names |
Alitzel, Brithany, Clary, Daylin, Erandi, Frida, Gielah, Hera, Iana, Janellie, Kalia, Leeba, Marbie, Nevayla, Olema, Ponderosa, Quincy, Roshi, Salacia, Souvenir, Spider Gwen, Trillium, Upsana, Vaila, Wilma, Xiamara, Yanis, Zula | Airam, Branimir, Cinco, Court, Divaldo, Dorje, Essiel, Fidel, Gabino, Heriberto, Isai, Jesiah, Kipono, Laszlo, Macklin, Nelson, Ove, Percival, Quinlan, Rifton, Sylo, Tanjiro, Uriah, Viliamu, Wiley, Xiveer, Yariel, Zaelyn |
Some possible explanations/influences for a few of the above:
- Airam is “Maria” spelled backwards.
- Cinco is the Spanish word for “five.”
- Dorje is a Tibetan name that refers to a diamond, a thunderbolt, “or an indestructible phenomenon.” (Its literal translation is “lord of stone.”)
- Erandi is the Purépecha word for “dawn.”
- Ponderosa is a type of North American pine tree (Pinus ponderosa). The name refers to the tree’s heavy (or “ponderous”) wood.
- Salacia was the Roman goddess of saltwater. Her name is based on sal, the Latin word for “salt.”
- Spider-Gwen is the fan-created nickname of comic book character Spider-Woman (a.k.a. Gwen Stacy).
- Trillium is a type of flower with three petals and three sepals.
- Viliamu is the Samoan form of William.
Finally, here are Sonoma’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
Sources:
- Sonoma County Baby Names – Open Data, Sonoma County
- Sonoma County Births by Year – Open Data, Sonoma County
- Dorje discovered by Dorje Lingpa – Project Himalayan Art
- Wikipedia
Image: Adapted from Flag of California (public domain)