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)

Top baby names of 2023 in several U.S. states (provisional)

peeking nun

Want to take a peek into the future?

The year isn’t over yet, but that hasn’t stopped several regional governments from releasing provisional baby name rankings for 2023.

At least four U.S. states and one U.S. city have put out their top baby names of 2023 already, for instance. 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 of 2023.

Top girl names, Rhode IslandTop boy names, Rhode Island
1. Charlotte
2. Sophia
3. Olivia
4. Amelia
5. Emma
6. Nora
7. Luna
8. Isabella
9. Mia
10. Isla		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. James
4. Theodore
5. Lucas
6. Michael
7. Julian
8. Benjamin
9. Henry
10. Luca

Mississippi

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, MississippiTop boy names, Mississippi
1. Ava
2. Amelia
3. Olivia
4. Charlotte
5. Harper
6. Elizabeth
7. Emma
8. Mary
9. Nova
10. Evelyn		1. John
2. James
3. William
4. Elijah
5. Noah
6. Liam
7. Waylon
8. Mason
9. Grayson
10. Asher

Houston (Texas)

According to the Houston Health Department, these were the city’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, City of HoustonTop boy names, City of Houston
1. Emma
2. Mia
3. Camila
4. Olivia
5. Isabella
6. Sofia
7. Sophia
8. Amelia
9. Charlotte
10. Emily		1. Liam
2. Noah
3. Mateo
4. Santiago
5. Sebastian
6. Dylan
7. Elijah
8. Lucas
9. Oliver
10. Daniel

New Mexico

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, New MexicoTop boy names, New Mexico
1. Olivia
2. Amelia
3. Isabella
4. Emma
5. Sofia
6. Mia
7. Sophia
8. Aria
9. Luna
10. Camila		1. Liam
2. Mateo
3. Noah
4. Santiago
5. Ezekiel
6. Elijah
7. Josiah
8. Sebastian
9. Ezra
10. Julian

Arizona

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, ArizonaTop boy names, Arizona
1. Olivia
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Mia
5. Camila
6. Sophia
7. Amelia
8. Charlotte
9. Evelyn
10. Luna		1. Liam
2. Mateo
3. Noah
4. Oliver
5. Santiago
6. Elijah
7. Sebastian
8. Ezra
9. Levi
10. Benjamin

Several regions outside the U.S. have also released their 2023 baby name rankings already. Here’s what I’ve spotted so far…

RegionTop names
British Columbia (Canada)Olivia & Noah
New Brunswick (Canada)Olivia & Liam
Nova Scotia (Canada)Olivia & Henry
P.E.I. (Canada)Sadie/Sophie & Jack
ACT/Canberra (Australia)Amelia/Charlotte & Henry
South Australia (Australia)Isla & Oliver
Western Australia (Australia)Isla & Oliver

Have you seen any others?

Sources:

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

Popular and unique baby names in Iowa, 2022

Flag of Iowa
Flag of Iowa

Did you know that Iowa is the only U.S. state bordered by two navigable rivers (i.e., rivers used for interstate commerce)? Its eastern border is formed by the Mississippi River, and its western border is formed by the Missouri River (for the most part).

Last year, the state’s most popular baby names were Olivia and Oliver, according to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services

Here are Iowa’s top 20 girl names and top 20+ boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 173 baby girls
  2. Charlotte, 155
  3. Ava, 130
  4. Emma, 122
  5. Amelia, 118
  6. Evelyn, 114
  7. Harper, 109
  8. Eleanor, 105
  9. Hazel, 94
  10. Nora, 93
  11. Scarlett, 91
  12. Ellie, 89
  13. Sophia, 85
  14. Avery, 84
  15. Ivy, 83
  16. Violet, 82
  17. Isabella, 78
  18. Grace, 74 (tie)
  19. Willow, 74 (tie)
  20. Aurora, 67

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 198 baby boys
  2. Liam, 180
  3. Theodore, 163
  4. Henry, 156
  5. William, 127
  6. Leo, 122
  7. Hudson, 121
  8. Jack, 119 (tie)
  9. Owen, 119 (tie)
  10. James, 118
  11. Brooks, 115
  12. Asher, 112
  13. Wyatt, 108
  14. Elijah, 107
  15. Maverick, 101
  16. Noah, 98
  17. Bennett, 90 (tie)
  18. Cooper, 90 (tie)
  19. Jackson, 88
  20. Lincoln, 87 (tie)
  21. Lucas, 87 (tie)

The SSA’s rankings for Iowa are largely (though not exactly) the same.

Now for the fun part — unique names!

In total, 3,680 (67%) of the girl names and 2,801 (58%) of the boy names bestowed in Iowa last year were given to a single baby. Here’s a selection of Iowa’s unique baby names of 2022:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Alini, Brillith, Clovianna, Demri, Eleen, Fienne, Giantra, Hinata, Idara, Jimmilah, Ketsia, Lithena, Meridia, Nashley, Prinsha, Quinlyn, Rencalina, Simrat, Tauren, Uniti, Velzy, Weaver, Xella, Yusali, ZevlynAckley, Berrick, Clandson, Dazin, Eitan, Faron, Grayler, Hemby, Indie, Jefrin, Kindness, Lijah, Maiti, Noriel, Olten, Percy, Quineal, Raul, Solanus, Trendale, Ukiyo, Vaylor, Westlan, Xanthos, Yannick, Zario

Some of the single-use noun-names I spotted were Fjord (boy), Badger (boy), Minnow (girl), Sparrow (girl), Lithium (boy), and Paprika (girl).

I also noticed the name Caladan (boy), which was likely inspired by the planet Caladan from the movie Dune: Part One, which was released in late 2021.

Speaking of 2021…here’s a link to Iowa’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Baby Names – Iowa Health & Human Services, Iowa – Wikipedia, Iowa’s Waterway System – Iowa DOT

Image: Adapted from Flag of Iowa (public domain)