How popular is the baby name Paisley in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Paisley.

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Popularity of the baby name Paisley


Posts that mention the name Paisley

Popular baby names in Canada, 2021

Flag of Canada
Flag of Canada

Canada might be the second-largest country in terms of area, but it isn’t very large in terms of population. In fact, it’s one of the least densely populated places in the world.

In 2021, Canada (excluding Yukon) welcomed over 367,684 babies. By comparison, the U.S. state of Texas recorded 373,340 births the same year.

What were the most popular names among Canada’s 2021 babies?

Well…we don’t know for sure. Because Canada doesn’t release baby name rankings that cover the entire country.

map of Canada

I’d love to give you the next-best thing — sets of regional Canadian rankings representing Canada’s ten provinces and three territories — but, as of right now, two of the provinces and all three territories have not released rankings for 2021. (Yukon hasn’t even reported an official number of births yet.)

So I’ll give you the third-best thing: Eight sets of provincial Canadian rankings, all gathered into a single post, followed by a guess about the country’s top five names per gender.

Here are the rankings, ordered by total number of births per region (highest to lowest):

Ontario

In 2021, Ontario welcomed 141,766 babies. Here are Ontario’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Ont.Boy Names, Ont.
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Charlotte
4. Amelia
5. Ava
6. Sophia
7. Isla
8. Evelyn
9. Mia
10. Ella
1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Oliver
4. Jack
5. Benjamin
6. Theodore
7. Lucas
8. William
9. Ethan
10. Leo

In 2020, the top names in Ontario were also Olivia and Noah.

Quebec

In 2021, Quebec welcomed 83,335 babies. Here are Quebec’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Que.Boy Names, Que.
1. Emma, 521 baby girls
2. Olivia, 519
3. Alice, 508
4. Florence, 498
5. Charlie, 488
6. Livia, 473
7. Charlotte, 465
8. Léa, 462
9. Romy, 357
10. Zoe, 344
1. Noah, 717 baby boys
2. William, 709
3. Thomas, 645
4. Léo, 622
5. Liam, 618
6. Jacob, 529
7. Nathan, 519
8. Arthur, 508
9. Édouard, 499
10. Félix, 484

(Here’s more on Quebec’s top names of 2021.)

In 2020, the top names in Quebec were Olivia and Liam.

Alberta

In 2021, Alberta welcomed 49,779 babies. Here are Alberta’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Alb.Boy Names, Alb.
1. Olivia, 210 baby girls
2. Charlotte, 166
3. Ava, 165
4. Emma, 164
5. Amelia, 161
6. Sophia, 137
7. Isla, 135
8. Abigail, 120 (tie)
9. Chloe, 120 (tie)
10. Evelyn, 119
1. Noah, 274 baby boys
2. Jack, 220
3. Oliver, 208
4. Liam, 198
5. Theodore, 191
6. William, 174
7. Ethan, 162
8. Levi, 148
9. Benjamin, 147 (tie)
10. Henry, 147 (tie)

(Here’s more on Alberta’s top names of 2021.)

In 2020, the top names in Alberta were also Olivia and Noah.

British Columbia

In 2021, British Columbia welcomed 43,999 babies. Here are B.C.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, B.C.Boy Names, B.C.
1. Olivia, 238 baby girls
2. Emma, 205
3. Charlotte, 182
4. Ava, 161
5. Isla, 157
6. Amelia, 151
7. Sophia, 143
8. Chloe, 127
9. Mia, 126 (tie)
10. Mila, 126 (tie)
1. Liam, 229 baby boys
2. Noah, 223
3. Jack, 201
4. Theodore, 191
5. Benjamin, 183
6. Oliver, 181
7. Owen, 159
8. Leo, 150
9. Ethan, 146
10. Logan, 142

In 2020, the top names in B.C. were also Olivia and Liam.

Manitoba

In 2021, Manitoba welcomed 14,552 babies. Manitoba’s top baby names of 2021, however, haven’t been released yet.

In 2020, the top two names in Manitoba were Olivia and Liam.

Saskatchewan

In 2021, Saskatchewan welcomed 14,509 babies. Here are Saskatchewan’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Sask.Boy Names, Sask.
1. Olivia, 57 baby girls
2. Sophia, 47
3. Emma, 43
4. Willow, 41
5. Ava, 39
6. Isla, 34
7. Abigail, 32
8. Amelia/Charlotte/Ellie/Harper/Hazel/Lily/Scarlett, 31 each (7-way tie)
1. Noah, 65 baby boys
2. Liam, 61
3. Theodore, 59
4. Oliver, 58
5. William, 53
6. Hudson, 50 (3-way tie)
7. Levi, 50 (3-way tie)
8. Lincoln, 50 (3-way tie)
9. Grayson, 41 (tie)
10. Jackson, 41 (tie)

In 2020, the top two names in Saskatchewan were Olivia and Liam.

Nova Scotia

In 2021, Nova Scotia welcomed 7,021 babies. Here are N.S.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, N.S.Boy Names, N.S.
1. Olivia, 56 baby girls
2. Ava, 41
3. Ellie, 37
4. Isla, 35
5. Amelia, 33 (tie)
6. Ivy, 33 (tie)
7. Evelyn, 31 (tie)
8. Violet, 31 (tie)
9. Charlotte, 29 (tie)
10. Harper, 29 (tie)
1. Jack, 52 baby boys
2. Noah, 49
3. Oliver, 47
4. Owen, 46
5. Levi, 45
6. Benjamin, 41 (3-way tie)
7. Henry, 41 (3-way tie)
8. William, 41 (3-way tie)
9. Lucas, 39
10. Liam, 38

In 2020, the top two names in N.S. were Olivia and Oliver.

New Brunswick

In 2021, New Brunswick welcomed 6,353 babies. Here are N.B.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, N.B.Boy Names, N.B.
1. Charlotte
2. Olivia
3. Sophia
4. Ellie
5. Paisley
6. Sophie
7. Willow
8. Isla
9. Emma
10. Ella
1. Liam
2. William
3. Oliver
4. Benjamin
5. Noah
6. Owen
7. Levi
8. Thomas
9. Jackson
10. Henry

In 2020, the top two names in N.B. were Olivia and Liam.

Newfoundland and Labrador

In 2021, Newfoundland and Labrador welcomed 3,833 babies. N.L.’s top baby names of 2021, however, haven’t been released yet.

In 2020, the top two names in N.L. were Amelia and Jaxson.

Prince Edward Island

In 2021, Prince Edward Island welcomed 1,447 babies. Here are P.E.I.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, P.E.I.Boy Names, P.E.I.
1. Alice, 9 baby girls
2. Scarlett, 8
3. Grace, 6 (3-way tie)
4. Isla, 6 (3-way tie)
5. Ivy, 6 (3-way tie)
6. Amelia/Anna/Annie/Ava/Charlotte/Ella/Ellie/Everly/Isabella/Lexi/Lucy/Maeve/Olivia/Sophia/Sophie/Willow, 5 each (16-way tie)
1. Oliver, 13 baby boys
2. Jack, 11 (tie)
3. Theo, 11 (tie)
4. Liam, 9
5. Austin, 8 (5-way tie)
6. Ezra, 8 (5-way tie)
7. Jackson, 8 (5-way tie)
8. Leo, 8 (5-way tie)
9. Noah, 8 (5-way tie)
10. Benjamin/Emmett/Ethan/Lucas/Theodore, 7 each (5-way tie)

In 2020, the top two names in P.E.I. were Nora/Charlotte (tie) and Hudson.

Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon

In 2021, N.W.T. and Nunavut welcomed 628 babies and 462 babies, respectively. (Yukon likely welcomed a few hundred babies as well.)

None of the territories have released baby name rankings for 2021.


Canada

Using the data we have from the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth most populous provinces — which, together, welcomed over 90% of the country’s 2021 babies — we can make a guess about Canada’s top baby names overall:

Possible Top Girl NamesPossible Top Boy Names
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Charlotte
4. Amelia
5. Ava
1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Benjamin
4. Oliver
5. Jack

I’m only moderately confident about these guesses, primarily because the most populous province, Ontario, didn’t include raw numbers with its rankings.

I placed Benjamin higher than both Oliver and Jack because it was the only one of the three to reach the top 50 in Quebec, Canada’s second-most-populous province. (Benjamin even ranked slightly higher than Olivier, the French form of Oliver, in Quebec.)

If Manitoba, Newfoundland, or any of the territories release 2021 rankings in the coming months, I’ll come back and revise this post.

What are your thoughts on Canada’s top baby names of 2021?

Update, May 20, 2023: A couple of weeks ago, just before of the release of the 2022 U.S. baby name data, Statistics Canada published — for the first time ever! — official rankings for the entire country of Canada:

Official Top Girl NamesOfficial Top Boy Names
1. Olivia, 2,032 baby girls
2. Emma, 1,715
3. Charlotte, 1,579
4. Amelia, 1,308
5. Ava, 1,105 (tie)
6. Sophia, 1,105 (tie)
7. Chloe, 1,088
8. Mia, 1,017
9. Mila, 936
10. Isla, 922
1. Noah, 2,393 baby boys
2. Liam, 1,967
3. William, 1,684
4. Leo, 1,559
5. Benjamin, 1,433
6. Theodore, 1,425
7. Jack, 1,365
8. Thomas, 1,318
9. Logan, 1,314
10. Oliver, 1,310

My guess about the girls’ top five was a lot better than my guess about the boys’ top five. :)

Here are links to the news release, the visualization tool, and the downloadable data table.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Canada (public domain)
Map: Adapted from Canada location map 2 by MapGrid under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Top lengths of baby names in the U.S., 2021

Which lengths were the most and least popular for U.S. baby names in 2021?

Top length for girl names: 6 letters

For baby girls, the most-used length was 6 letters, followed by 5 and 7.

Graph of length popularity for U.S. baby girl names, 2021

The most popular girl names per length were…

  • 2 letters (over 200 baby girls): Bo, Jo, Zo, An, Vy, Io
  • 3 letters (over 58,300): Ava, Mia, Zoe, Ivy, Eva, Ada
  • 4 letters (over 223,800): Emma, Luna, Ella, Aria, Mila, Nora
  • 5 letters (over 348,000): Sofia, Avery, Emily, Chloe, Layla, Hazel
  • 6 letters (over 466,100): Olivia, Amelia, Sophia, Evelyn, Harper, Camila
  • 7 letters (over 307,900): Eleanor, Abigail, Madison, Addison, Lillian, Paisley
  • 8 letters (over 142,000): Isabella, Scarlett, Penelope, Victoria, Brooklyn, Savannah
  • 9 letters (over 71,800): Charlotte, Elizabeth, Valentina, Josephine, Gabriella
  • 10 letters (over 8,000): Evangeline, Alexandria, Alessandra, Jacqueline
  • 11 letters (over 300): Christianna, Ameliagrace, Anavictoria
  • 12 letters (under 100)
  • 13 letters (over 100)
  • 14 letters (under 100)
  • 15 letters (none)

Top length for boy names: 6 letters

For baby boys, the most-used length was also 6 letters, followed by 5 and 4.

Graph of length popularity for U.S. baby boy names, 2021

The most popular boy names per length were…

  • 2 letters (over 1,800 baby boys): Bo, Ty, Om, Aj, Cy, Oz
  • 3 letters (over 49,200): Leo, Eli, Kai, Ian, Ace, Max
  • 4 letters (over 288,800): Liam, Noah, Jack, Levi, Owen, John
  • 5 letters (over 453,200): James, Lucas, Henry, Mateo, Mason, Ethan
  • 6 letters (over 511,800): Oliver, Elijah, Daniel, Samuel, Joseph, Julian
  • 7 letters (over 269,000): William, Jackson, Michael, Grayson, Matthew, Gabriel
  • 8 letters (over 106,100): Benjamin, Theodore, Maverick, Santiago, Jonathan, Jeremiah
  • 9 letters (over 42,000): Alexander, Sebastian, Christian, Nathaniel, Alejandro
  • 10 letters (over 3,700): Maximilian, Alessandro, Kristopher, Montgomery
  • 11 letters (over 7,800): Christopher, Maximiliano, Constantine
  • 12 letters (over 200)
  • 13 letters (over 100)
  • 14 letters (under 100)
  • 15 letters (under 100)

Top first letters of baby names in the U.S., 2021

Which first letters were the most and least popular for U.S. baby names in 2021?

Top first letters for girl names: A, E, M

For baby girls, the most-used first letter was A, followed by E and M. The least-used first letter was U.

Graph of first letter popularity for U.S. baby girl names, 2021

The most popular girl names per letter were…

  • A-names (over 273,100 baby girls): Amelia, Ava, Abigail, Avery, Aria, Aurora
  • B-names (over 49,300): Brooklyn, Bella, Brielle, Blakely, Bailey, Brianna
  • C-names (over 93,100): Charlotte, Camila, Chloe, Claire, Caroline, Cora
  • D-names (over 40,300): Delilah, Daisy, Diana, Daniela, Delaney, Dakota
  • E-names (over 155,300): Emma, Evelyn, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Ella, Emily
  • F-names (over 16,500): Freya, Faith, Finley, Fiona, Fatima, Frances
  • G-names (over 42,900): Gianna, Grace, Genesis, Gabriella, Genevieve, Georgia
  • H-names (over 54,900): Harper, Hazel, Hannah, Hailey, Hadley, Harmony
  • I-names (over 44,100): Isabella, Isla, Ivy, Iris, Isabelle, Isabel
  • J-names (over 73,500): Josephine, Jade, Julia, Josie, Juniper, Jasmine
  • K-names (over 89,100): Kinsley, Kennedy, Kaylee, Kehlani, Katherine, Kylie
  • L-names (over 115,300): Luna, Layla, Lily, Leah, Lucy, Lillian
  • M-names (over 143,500): Mia, Mila, Madison, Maya, Madelyn, Madeline
  • N-names (over 58,800): Nora, Nova, Naomi, Natalie, Natalia, Nevaeh
  • O-names (over 30,200): Olivia, Olive, Oakley, Oaklynn, Octavia, Ophelia
  • P-names (over 37,600): Penelope, Paisley, Piper, Peyton, Parker, Presley
  • Q-names (over 4,100): Quinn, Quincy, Queen, Quinley, Quetzalli, Quinnley
  • R-names (over 74,800): Riley, Ruby, Rylee, Raelynn, Rose, Remi
  • S-names (over 116,400): Sophia, Sofia, Scarlett, Stella, Savannah, Skylar
  • T-names (over 24,200): Taylor, Teagan, Trinity, Tatum, Tessa, Talia
  • U-names (over 600): Unique, Uma, Ulani, Una, Unknown, Unity
  • V-names (over 32,400): Violet, Victoria, Valentina, Vivian, Valerie, Valeria
  • W-names (over 14,700): Willow, Wren, Winter, Wynter, Willa, Wrenley
  • X-names (over 4,500): Ximena, Xiomara, Xyla, Xena, Xochitl, Xitlali
  • Y-names (over 7,600): Yaretzi, Yara, Yareli, Yasmin, Yamileth, Yuna
  • Z-names (over 29,100): Zoey, Zoe, Zuri, Zara, Zariah, Zelda

Top first letters for boy names: J, A, L

For baby boys, the most-used first letter was J, followed by A and L. The least-used first letter was U.

Graph of first letter popularity for U.S. baby boy names, 2021

The most popular boy names per letter were…

  • A-names (over 178,600 baby boys): Alexander, Asher, Aiden, Anthony, Andrew, Adrian
  • B-names (over 86,600): Benjamin, Brooks, Bennett, Beau, Bryson, Brayden
  • C-names (over 123,000): Carter, Charles, Caleb, Christopher, Cameron, Cooper
  • D-names (over 85,000): Daniel, David, Dylan, Dominic, Declan, Damian
  • E-names (over 108,700): Elijah, Ethan, Ezra, Elias, Ezekiel, Eli
  • F-names (over 20,500): Finn, Felix, Finley, Francisco, Fernando, Finnegan
  • G-names (over 53,500): Grayson, Gabriel, Greyson, Gael, Giovanni, George
  • H-names (over 50,000): Henry, Hudson, Hunter, Harrison, Hayden, Hayes
  • I-names (over 31,500): Isaac, Isaiah, Ian, Ivan, Israel, Ismael
  • J-names (over 202,800): James, Jack, Jackson, Jacob, John, Joseph
  • K-names (over 93,400): Kai, Kayden, Kingston, Kaiden, Kevin, King
  • L-names (over 133,400): Liam, Lucas, Levi, Logan, Leo, Luke
  • M-names (over 126,700): Mateo, Michael, Mason, Matthew, Maverick, Miles
  • N-names (over 57,400): Noah, Nathan, Nolan, Nicholas, Nathaniel, Nicolas
  • O-names (over 38,800): Oliver, Owen, Oscar, Omar, Orion, Odin
  • P-names (over 23,700): Parker, Patrick, Peter, Preston, Phoenix, Paxton
  • Q-names (over 3,100): Quinn, Quentin, Quincy, Quinton, Quintin, Quinten
  • R-names (over 82,800): Ryan, Roman, Robert, Rowan, River, Ryder
  • S-names (over 70,300): Sebastian, Samuel, Santiago, Silas, Sawyer, Steven
  • T-names (over 59,200): Theodore, Thomas, Thiago, Theo, Tyler, Tucker
  • U-names (over 2,500): Uriel, Uriah, Ulises, Ulysses, Uziel, Umar
  • V-names (over 11,000): Vincent, Victor, Valentino, Vincenzo, Vicente, Vihaan
  • W-names (over 49,100): William, Wyatt, Waylon, Wesley, Weston, Walker
  • X-names (over 7,200): Xavier, Xander, Xzavier, Xavion, Xavien, Xavian
  • Y-names (over 8,200): Yusuf, Yosef, Yehuda, Yousef, Yahir, Yisroel
  • Z-names (over 26,900): Zion, Zachary, Zayden, Zane, Zayn, Zander

Popular baby names in College Station (Texas), 2021

Flag of Texas
Flag of Texas

According to the government of College Station, the most popular baby names in the Texas city last year were Adalyn/Olivia/Sophia (3-way tie) and Liam.

Here are College Station’s top 3 girl names and top 3 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Adalyn, Olivia, and Sophia, 21 each (3-way tie)
  2. Camilla, 17
  3. Emma, 16

Boy Names

  1. Liam, 19 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 16
  3. Elijah, 15

My source noted that, among the girls, there were “several Paisleys, along with Paislee, Paisleigh, Paizley and Pai’slyn.” Other girl names were “Ella, Bella, Della and Stella, along with Arabella, Celestabella, Isabella and Mirabella.”

Among the boys, there was “Ayden, Brayden, Hayden, Jayden, Kayden, Rayden and Zayden. Also Braxton, Daxton, Jaxton, Paxton and Zaxton.”

And one baby got the very Texas-y name Brazos. The word literally means “arms” in Spanish, and could refer to the area in general (e.g, Brazos County, Brazos Valley) or to the Brazos River itself, which was dubbed the Río de los Brazos de Dios (translation: “River of the Arms of God”) by early explorers. Most of the usage of Brazos as a baby name has occurred in Texas specifically.

The 3 most popular middle names in College Station last year were…

  • Girls: Rose, Grace, Marie
  • Boys: James, Lee, Alexander

In 2020, the top two names in College Station were Olivia and Noah.

P.S. Pro quarterback Kyle Trask was named after Texas A&M’s Kyle Field, which is located in College Station.

Sources: 2021’s most-popular baby names — and media’s hot takes on them, SSA

Image: Adapted from Flag of Texas (public domain)