Baby Name: Mateo

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

1. Amelia, 13 baby girls (3-way tie)
2. Camila, 13 (3-way tie)
3. Mia, 13 (3-way tie)
4. Emma, 12
5. Charlotte, 11
6. Luna, 10 (tie)
7. Scarlett, 10 (tie)
8. Charlie, 8 (6-way tie)
9. Elena, 8 (6-way tie)
10. Eliana, 8 (6-way tie)
11. Gianna, 8 (6-way tie)
12. Lucy, 8 (6-way tie)
13. Valentina, 8 (6-way tie)
14. Grace, 7 (9-way tie)
15. Isabella, 7 (9-way tie)
16. Isla, 7 (9-way tie)
17. Lucia, 7 (9-way tie)
18. Madison, 7 (9-way tie)
19. Maya, 7 (9-way tie)
20. Natalia, 7 (9-way tie)
21. Quinn, 7 (9-way tie)
22. Sophia, 7 (9-way tie)
23. Ava, 6 (15-way tie)
24. Ella, 6 (15-way tie)
25. Evelyn, 6 (15-way tie)
26. Hazel, 6 (15-way tie)
27. Layla, 6 (15-way tie)
28. Leah, 6 (15-way tie)
29. Lillian, 6 (15-way tie)
30. Olivia, 6 (15-way tie)
31. Riley, 6 (15-way tie)
32. River, 6 (15-way tie)
33. Ruby, 6 (15-way tie)
34. Sofia, 6 (15-way tie)
35. Victoria, 6 (15-way tie)
36. Violet, 6 (15-way tie)
37. Willow, 6 (15-way tie)
38. Amari, 5 (7-way tie)
39. Genesis, 5 (7-way tie)
40. Hannah, 5 (7-way tie)
41. Harper, 5 (7-way tie)
42. Itzel, 5 (7-way tie)
43. Penelope, 5 (7-way tie)
44. Sophie, 5 (7-way tie)
45. Amaya, 4 (19-way tie)
46. Ariel, 4 (19-way tie)
47. Athena, 4 (19-way tie)
48. Aubrey, 4 (19-way tie)
49. Cecilia, 4 (19-way tie)
50. Emery, 4 (19-way tie)
51. Georgia, 4 (19-way tie)
52. Hadley, 4 (19-way tie)
53. Jade, 4 (19-way tie)
54. Josephine, 4 (19-way tie)
55. Kimberly, 4 (19-way tie)
56. Leilani, 4 (19-way tie)
57. Lia, 4 (19-way tie)
58. Lily, 4 (19-way tie)
59. Maeve, 4 (19-way tie)
60. Mila, 4 (19-way tie)
61. Nevaeh, 4 (19-way tie)
62. Sienna, 4 (19-way tie)
63. Zoey, 4 (19-way tie)

Boy names

1. Liam, 22 baby boys
2. Sebastian, 17
3. Noah, 14
4. James, 13 (tie)
5. Santiago, 13 (tie)
6. Dylan, 12 (tie)
7. Mateo, 12 (tie)
8. Damian, 11 (tie)
9. Luca, 11 (tie)
10. Ivan, 10 (3-way tie)
11. Julian, 10 (3-way tie)
12. Leo, 10 (3-way tie)
13. Ethan, 9 (5-way tie)
14. Mason, 9 (5-way tie)
15. Miles, 9 (5-way tie)
16. Theodore, 9 (5-way tie)
17. William, 9 (5-way tie)
18. Angel, 8 (3-way tie)
19. Christian, 8 (3-way tie)
20. Lucas, 8 (3-way tie)
21. Adriel, 7 (9-way tie)
22. Asher, 7 (9-way tie)
23. Emiliano, 7 (9-way tie)
24. Hudson, 7 (9-way tie)
25. Jackson, 7 (9-way tie)
26. John, 7 (9-way tie)
27. Joshua, 7 (9-way tie)
28. Levi, 7 (9-way tie)
29. Logan, 7 (9-way tie)
30. Benjamin, 6 (9-way tie)
31. Cameron, 6 (9-way tie)
32. Emilio, 6 (9-way tie)
33. Henry, 6 (9-way tie)
34. Jaxon, 6 (9-way tie)
35. Jesus, 6 (9-way tie)
36. Jonathan, 6 (9-way tie)
37. Lorenzo, 6 (9-way tie)
38. Roman, 6 (9-way tie)
39. Adrian, 5 (19-way tie)
40. Alejandro, 5 (19-way tie)
41. Bodhi, 5 (19-way tie)
42. Cooper, 5 (19-way tie)
43. David, 5 (19-way tie)
44. Dean, 5 (19-way tie)
45. Diego, 5 (19-way tie)
46. Javier, 5 (19-way tie)
47. Leonardo, 5 (19-way tie)
48. Luke, 5 (19-way tie)
49. Matteo, 5 (19-way tie)
50. Michael, 5 (19-way tie)
51. Milan, 5 (19-way tie)
52. Oliver, 5 (19-way tie)
53. Owen, 5 (19-way tie)
54. Ryan, 5 (19-way tie)
55. Ryder, 5 (19-way tie)
56. Waylon, 5 (19-way tie)
57. Wyatt, 5 (19-way tie)

And here’s a sampling of the many names that were bestowed just once in Sonoma last year:

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)