Preliminary 2025 baby name rankings for five U.S. states

peeking nun

We won’t have access to the federal government’s next batch of baby name data until May, but five U.S. states — Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Rhode Island — have released preliminary rankings for 2025. Let’s check them out, starting in the east and moving westward…

Rhode Island

According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in 2025.

Top girl names, RITop boy names, RI
1. Charlotte
2. Olivia
3. Amelia
4. Isabella
5. Sophia
6. Aurora
7. Ava
8. Maeve
9. Nora
10. Isla		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Oliver
4. Theodore
5. Benjamin
6. Luca
7. Lucas
8. Henry
9. John
10. Jack

Mississippi

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in 2025.

Top girl names, MSTop boy names, MS
1. Amelia
2. Charlotte
3. Olivia
4. Ava
5. Elizabeth
6. Mary
7. Ivy
8. Nova
9. Emma & Lainey (tie)
10. Ellie		1. James
2. William
3. John
4. Noah
5. Elijah
6. Liam
7. Waylon
8. Hudson
9. Henry
10. Levi

Louisiana

According to the Louisiana Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in 2025.

Top girl names, LATop boy names, LA
1. Amelia
2. Charlotte
3. Olivia
4. Emma
5. Eleanor
6. Harper
7. Sophia
8. Evelyn
9. Ellie
10. Nova		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. James
4. John
5. Elijah
6. Oliver
7. William
8. Hudson
9. Joseph
10. Henry

New Mexico

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in 2025.

Top girl names, NMTop boy names, NM
1. Olivia
2. Mia
3. Sophia
4. Sofia
5. Camila
6. Eliana
7. Amelia
8. Isabella
9. Aurora
10. Aria		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Mateo
4. Elijah
5. Santiago
6. Sebastian
7. Ezra
8. Elias
9. Levi
10. Ezekiel

Arizona

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in 2025.

Top girl names, AZTop boy names, AZ
1. Olivia
2. Sophia
3. Mia
4. Isabella
5. Emma
6. Amelia
7. Charlotte
8. Eliana
9. Camila
10. Sofia		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Mateo
4. Santiago
5. Oliver
6. Elias
7. Elijah
8. Theodore
9. Sebastian
10. Ezra

See anything interesting/unexpected so far?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from A trompe l’œil with a young nun peeking out through a shutter (public domain)

Popular baby names in New York City, 2024

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

Last year, New York City welcomed more than 100,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Mia and Noah, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Here are NYC’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Mia, 422 baby girls
  2. Emma
  3. Sophia
  4. Leah
  5. Isabella
  6. Zoe
  7. Olivia
  8. Chloe
  9. Sofia
  10. Esther

Boy names

  1. Noah, 722 baby boys
  2. Liam
  3. Ethan
  4. David
  5. Lucas
  6. Jacob
  7. Joseph
  8. Aiden
  9. Dylan (tie)
  10. Muhammad (tie)

One year earlier, in 2023, the top names in New York City were Emma and Liam.

Sources: Mia and Noah Top List of Most Popular Baby Names in New York City – NYC Health, Provisional Birth and Death Data – NYC Health

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

Popular baby names in Kent County (Michigan), 2025

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Flag of Michigan

More than 10,500 babies were born in Kent County, Michigan, during the first eleven months (or so) of 2025.*

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sophia and Henry, according to data from Kent County’s Office of Vital Records.

Here are the county’s probable top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2025:

Girl names

  1. Sophia
  2. Charlotte
  3. Emma
  4. Amelia
  5. Harper
  6. Josephine
  7. Nora
  8. Eleanor
  9. Lucy
  10. Violet

Boy names

  1. Henry
  2. James
  3. Theodore
  4. Oliver
  5. Hudson
  6. Bennett
  7. Jack
  8. Noah
  9. Wesley
  10. Levi

One year earlier, the top names state-wide were Charlotte and Noah, according to the SSA. (Sophia ranked 6th and Henry ranked 4th.)

Finally, did you know that the current Kent County clerk is named Lisa Posthumus Lyons? She wasn’t born after the death of her father, like the babies named Posthumus centuries ago; Posthumus is simply her maiden name. (Her father, Michigan politician Dick Posthumus, is still alive.)

*The rankings were posted to Kent County’s social media accounts on December 3rd, so I’m assuming they cover the year from January to November.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Michigan (public domain)

Popular baby names in San Diego (California), 2023

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Flag of California

Two years ago, the California county of San Diego welcomed 35,713 babies — 17,289 girls and 18,424 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Noah.

Here are San Diego’s top 10+ girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Emma, 199 baby girls
  2. Mia, 184
  3. Olivia, 170
  4. Camila, 151
  5. Sophia, 147
  6. Sofia, 144
  7. Isabella, 138
  8. Luna, 125
  9. Amelia, 124
  10. Charlotte, 95 (tie)
  11. Penelope, 95 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 224 baby boys
  2. Liam, 198
  3. Mateo, 195
  4. Sebastian, 165
  5. Oliver, 154
  6. Elijah, 134
  7. Luca, 127
  8. Julian, 124
  9. Benjamin, 122 (tie)
  10. Santiago, 122 (tie)

A year earlier, in 2022, the top names were Olivia and Mateo.

P.S. I’ve also posted 2023 rankings for the California county of Sonoma.

Source: Data on Children – SanDiegoCounty.gov

Image: Adapted from Flag of California (public domain)