Sonoma County is the northernmost county in the San Francisco Bay Area region.
Last year, Sonoma welcomed 4,463 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Mateo.
Here are Sonoma’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023:
Girl names
- Olivia, 20 baby girls
- Camila, 19 (tie)
- Mia, 19 (tie)
- Emily, 16 (3-way tie)
- Mila, 16 (3-way tie)
- Sophia, 16 (3-way tie)
- Aurora, 15 (4-way tie)
- Isabella, 15 (4-way tie)
- Sofia, 15 (4-way tie)
- Violet, 15 (4-way tie)
- Ava, 14 (3-way tie)
- Gianna, 14 (3-way tie)
- Isla, 14 (3-way tie)
- Charlotte, 13 (4-way tie)
- Emma, 13 (4-way tie)
- Lily, 13 (4-way tie)
- Luna, 13 (4-way tie)
- Avery, 12 (3-way tie)
- Harper, 12 (3-way tie)
- Maya, 12 (3-way tie)
- Leilani, 11 (tie)
- Scarlett, 11 (tie)
- Amelia, 10 (11-way tie)
- Daniela, 10 (11-way tie)
- Elena, 10 (11-way tie)
- Eliana, 10 (11-way tie)
- Josephine, 10 (11-way tie)
- Kennedy, 10 (11-way tie)
- Logan, 10 (11-way tie)
- Quinn, 10 (11-way tie)
- Ryan, 10 (11-way tie)
- Valentina, 10 (11-way tie)
- Victoria, 10 (11-way tie)
- Eleanor, 9 (6-way tie)
- Grace, 9 (6-way tie)
- Madison, 9 (6-way tie)
- Nora, 9 (6-way tie)
- Riley, 9 (6-way tie)
- Stella, 9 (6-way tie)
- Charlie, 8 (11-way tie)
- Emilia, 8 (11-way tie)
- Evelyn, 8 (11-way tie)
- Jade, 8 (11-way tie)
- Lainey, 8 (11-way tie)
- Natalie, 8 (11-way tie)
- Penelope, 8 (11-way tie)
- Poppy, 8 (11-way tie)
- Samantha, 8 (11-way tie)
- Sawyer, 8 (11-way tie)
- Valeria, 8 (11-way tie)
Boy names
- Mateo, 29 baby boys
- Noah, 27
- Liam, 22 (tie)
- Luca, 22 (tie)
- Oliver, 21 (tie)
- Sebastian, 21 (tie)
- Dylan, 20
- Leonardo, 19 (tie)
- Levi, 19 (tie)
- Anthony, 17 (3-way tie)
- Henry, 17 (3-way tie)
- Lucas, 17 (3-way tie)
- Benjamin, 16 (tie)
- Julian, 16 (tie)
- Emiliano, 15
- Ethan, 14
- Santiago, 13 (tie)
- Wyatt, 13 (tie)
- Angel, 12 (5-way tie)
- Cooper, 12 (5-way tie)
- Daniel, 12 (5-way tie)
- Matteo, 12 (5-way tie)
- Miles, 12 (5-way tie)
- Alexander, 11 (8-way tie)
- Christopher, 11 (8-way tie)
- Elias, 11 (8-way tie)
- Hudson, 11 (8-way tie)
- Jack, 11 (8-way tie)
- Leo, 11 (8-way tie)
- Matias, 11 (8-way tie)
- Thomas, 11 (8-way tie)
- Bennett, 10 (9-way tie)
- Damian, 10 (9-way tie)
- Elijah, 10 (9-way tie)
- Emilio, 10 (9-way tie)
- Ezra, 10 (9-way tie)
- Ian, 10 (9-way tie)
- Luka, 10 (9-way tie)
- Luke, 10 (9-way tie)
- William, 10 (9-way tie)
- Caleb, 9 (5-way tie)
- James, 9 (5-way tie)
- Jose, 9 (5-way tie)
- Luis, 9 (5-way tie)
- Parker, 9 (5-way tie)
- Adriel, 8 (16-way tie)
- Cameron, 8 (16-way tie)
- Colton, 8 (16-way tie)
- Connor, 8 (16-way tie)
- David, 8 (16-way tie)
- Dean, 8 (16-way tie)
- Diego, 8 (16-way tie)
- Gabriel, 8 (16-way tie)
- Isaac, 8 (16-way tie)
- Jesus, 8 (16-way tie)
- Lorenzo, 8 (16-way tie)
- Milo, 8 (16-way tie)
- River, 8 (16-way tie)
- Samuel, 8 (16-way tie)
- Theo, 8 (16-way tie)
- Thiago, 8 (16-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 |
Ameyalli, Beliana, Colette, Delphie, Ellora, Fiadh, Gwendolyn, Honorae, Ilisapeci, Jessune, Khilana, Lucibell, Merari, Norma, Oriah, Pixel, Riyana, Soluna, Teteoinnan, Ume, Velexia, Wrenlee, Xochitl, Yetzi, Zantedechia | Ariodante, Bruce, Canaan, Dovydas, Endrick, Favian, Gedaliah, Hewitt, Itztli, Jessiah, Kidder, Ledson, Miro, Nash, Orbelin, Paz, Rapha, Sigaserau, Tovius, Uniquo, Ventura, Wicahpi, Xolotl, Yoali, Zianni |
Some possible explanations/influences for a few of the above:
- Ameyalli means “spring, fountain” in Nahuatl.
- Ariodante is the name of an opera (first performed in 1735) by George Frideric Handel.
- Itztli refers to an “obsidian blade” in Nahuatl.
- Teteoinnan is the name of a Nahua deity. (The name means “mother of the gods” in Nahuatl.)
- Wicahpi means “star” in Lakota.
- Xolotl refers to the “divine force of lightning and death” (among other things) in Nahuatl.
- Zantedechia is one letter away from Zantedeschia, the name of a genus of flowering plants. (The calla lily is a member of this genus.) The genus was named after Italian physician/botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi (1773-1846).
Finally, here are Sonoma’s 2022 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, Online Nahuatl Dictionary, Zantedeschia – Wikipedia
Image: Adapted from Flag of California (public domain)