Popular baby names in Virginia, 2023

Flag of Virginia
Flag of Virginia

Last year, the Commonwealth of Virginia — which is home to more than 8.7 million people — welcomed roughly 95,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Charlotte and Liam, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records.

Here are Virginia’s top 15 girl names and top 15 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Charlotte
  2. Emma
  3. Olivia*
  4. Sophia
  5. Amelia
  6. Evelyn
  7. Ava
  8. Isabella
  9. Elizabeth
  10. Mia
  11. Eleanor
  12. Harper
  13. Sofia
  14. Luna
  15. Abigail

*In the press release, Olivia was spelled “Oliva.” I’m assuming this was a typo.

Boy names

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. James
  4. Oliver
  5. William
  6. Lucas
  7. Henry
  8. Theodore
  9. Benjamin
  10. Levi
  11. Elijah
  12. Luke
  13. John
  14. Michael
  15. Gabriel

The state also revealed the top names among the state’ four largest ethnic groups: White, Black, Hispanic and Asian. (According to the most recent CDC data, from 2021, 54.3% of Virginia’s babies were born to non-Hispanic White mothers, 20.0% to Black mothers, 15.7% to Hispanic mothers, and 7.3% to Asian mothers.)

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s White babies:

Girl names, WhiteBoy names, White
1. Charlotte
2. Olivia
3. Emma
4. Amelia
5. Sophia
1. James
2. William
3. Oliver
4. Henry
5. Liam

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Black babies:

Girl names, BlackBoy names, Black
1. Ava
2. Naomi
3. Nova
4. Serenity
5. Autumn
1. Noah
2. Amir
3. Josiah
4. Elijah
5. Legend

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Hispanic babies:

Girl names, HispanicBoy names, Hispanic
1. Mia
2. Camila*
3. Genesis*
4. Isabella
5. Sofia
1. Liam
2. Mateo
3. Dylan
4. Thiago
5. Lucas

*In the press release, Camila and Genesis were spelled “Camilla” and “Genisis.” I’m assuming these were typos as well.

And, finally, these were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Asian babies:

Girl names, AsianBoy names, Asian
1. Olivia
2. Ava
3. Sophia
4. Sophie
5. Charlotte
1. Noah
2. Lucas
3. Muhammad
4. Ethan
5. Alexander

Here’s a link to Virginia’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Virginia (public domain)

Popular baby names in Knox County (Illinois), 2023

Flag of Illinois
Flag of Illinois

Illinois’ Knox County — which was named after Revolutionary War hero Henry Knox — welcomed 498 babies last year.

Here are Knox County’s top girl names and top boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Ava, 4 baby girls [tie]
  2. Isabelle, 4 [tie]
  3. Aurora, 3 [3-way tie]
  4. Faith, 3 [3-way tie]
  5. Sophia, 3 [3-way tie]

Boy names

  1. Ezra, 4 baby boys [4-way tie]
  2. Liam, 4 [4-way tie]
  3. Oliver, 4 [4-way tie]
  4. Theodore, 4 [4-way tie]
  5. Asher, 3 [3-way tie]
  6. Benjamin, 3 [3-way tie]
  7. Jacob, 3 [3-way tie]
  8. Weston, 3 [3-way tie]

In 2022, the top names in the county were Charlotte and a tie between Theodore and Kai.

Several years earlier, in 2019, the top names were Charlotte and Benjamin.

Source: Line, Cameron. “List reveals Knox County’s top baby names of 2023.” WGIL 5 Feb. 2024.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Illinois (public domain)

Popular baby names in Boston (Massachusetts), 2023

Flag of Massachusetts
Flag of Massachusetts

Last year, the City of Boston welcomed a total of 20,645 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Liam.

Here are Boston’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Olivia
  2. Emma
  3. Sophia
  4. Charlotte
  5. Sofia
  6. Isabella
  7. Grace
  8. Chloe
  9. Amelia
  10. Maya
  11. Luna
  12. Gianna
  13. Mia
  14. Nora
  15. Ava
  16. Natalie
  17. Ella
  18. Emilia
  19. Maeve
  20. Eleanor

Boy names

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. Henry
  4. Leo
  5. Theodore
  6. Jack
  7. Julian
  8. James
  9. Thomas
  10. Benjamin
  11. William
  12. Luca
  13. John
  14. Ethan
  15. Logan
  16. Aiden
  17. Charles
  18. Samuel
  19. Joseph
  20. Oliver

Thomas caught my eye — it’s a top-10 boy name in Boston, but (in 2022) it only managed to rank 22nd state-wide and 45th country-wide.

Massachusetts’ top baby names of 2023 won’t be revealed until May, when the new SSA data comes out, but the state’s #1 names in 2022 were Olivia and Noah. (Noah won by a wide margin, in fact. It was given to 142 more baby boys than second-place Liam.)

Sources: Most Popular Baby Names in Boston, SSA

Image: Adapted from Flag of Massachusetts (public domain)

Popular baby names in New York City, 2022

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

Did you know that New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States? (Next on the list is Chicago, followed by Philadelphia.)

In 2022, the Big Apple welcomed 99,459 babies — 48,864 girls and 50,595 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Liam, yet again. (Emma has been the #1 girl name since 2017; Liam has been the #1 boy name since 2016.)

Here are New York City’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Emma
  2. Mia
  3. Olivia
  4. Sophia
  5. Leah (ranked 52nd for girls nationally in 2022)
  6. Ava
  7. Esther (139th)
  8. Isabella
  9. Luna
  10. Amelia

Boy Names

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. Ethan (ranked 21st for boys nationally in 2022)
  4. Lucas
  5. David (31st)
  6. Jacob (32nd)
  7. Aiden (29th)
  8. Joseph (30th)
  9. Daniel (14th)
  10. Alexander (17th)

In the girls’ top 10, Esther replaced Sofia. (That said, “it’s worth noting that if Sofia and Sophia were counted as a single name, it would be number one.”)

In the boys’ top 10, Alexander replaced Benjamin.

Finally, here’s a link to New York City’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to check them out.

Sources: Health Department Announces Top Baby Names in New York City, List of United States cities by population density – Wikipedia

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