It's time for us to say goodbye to the tragic and completely unbelievable whirlwind of a year that was 2020. But before we put the year behind us, let's pause for a moment and reflect on this year's most popular baby names. If you or someone you know had a baby in 2020, there's a good chance that one, possibly two of the following names are that new baby's first or middle name.
Though 2020 was a year of many firsts for the residents of the world, one thing that remained the same is the fact that politics, big events, and social trends that happened during this year had a major effect on the names that new parents chose for their little ones. For example, when it comes to politics, the names Kamala and Liberty rose in popularity, 104 percent, and 12 percent respectively. Also, in 2020 the name Kobe was raised in popularity by a whopping 175 percent after NBA star Kobe Bryant and his young daughter Gianna sadly perished with the pilot and several other passengers in a plane crash. Gianna also rose - by 216 percent and ranks number 24 on the list. When it comes to social trends, the names Karen and Chad (sometimes referred to as the male equivalent of a "Karen" or "Vigilante Chads" according to those who use the terms) took a dip in popularity by 13 percent and 12 percent.
Now that we have an idea of what inspired the use (or lack thereof) of these monikers, let's take a look at the top 50 baby names of 2020, according to BabyCenter.
Ladies first:
- Sophia
- Olivia
- Riley
- Emma
- Ava
- Isabella
- Aria
- Aaliyah
- Amelia
- Mia
- Layla
- Zoe
- Camilla
- Charlotte
- Eliana
- Mila
- Everly
- Luna
- Avery
- Evelyn
- Harper
- Lily
- Ella
- Gianna
- Chloe
- Adalyn
- Charlie
- Isla
- Ellie
- Leah
- Nora
- Scarlett
- Maya
- Abigail
- Madison
- Aubrey
- Emily
- Kinsley
- Elena
- Paisley
- Madelyn
- Aurora
- Peyton
- Nova
- Emilia
- Hannah
- Sarah
- Ariana
- Penelope
- Lila
Now, let's hear it for the boys:
- Liam
- Noah
- Jackson
- Aiden
- Elijah
- Grayson
- Lucas
- Oliver
- Caden
- Mateo
- Muhammad
- Mason
- Carter
- Jayden
- Ethan
- Sebastian
- James
- Michael
- Benjamin
- Logan
- Leo
- Luca
- Alexander
- Levi
- Daniel
- Josiah
- Henry
- Jace
- Julian
- Jack
- Ryan
- Jacob
- Asher
- Wyatt
- William
- Owen
- Gabriel
- Miles
- Lincoln
- Ezra
- Isaiah
- Luke
- Cameron
- Caleb
- Isaac
- Carson
- Samuel
- Colton
- Maverick
- Matthew
The top 3 names of each list, Sophia, Olivia, and Riley and Liam, Noah, and Jackson are still hanging in strong and probably won't budge too much by the time next year's list is ready to roll out. In fact, Sophia is seated quite comfortably in the number 1 spot for 11 years in a row now! This is Liam's second year ranking number one while surprisingly enough, recent boy name favs such as Caden/Cayden and Grayson/Greyson moved down a few spots. Longtime beloved names such as Emma, Isabella, Lucas, and Oliver maintain positioning on the top ten.
By looking at the lists, we can surmise that baby girl names ending with "a" or "ia" are highly popular overall on the list, being that over half of the list contains names that end with the soft "uh" sound. The two reigning initials are "A" and "E" with a whopping 10 each. Only two girl names on the list are considered unisex names in the U.S. with Charlie, Riley, while in the U.K., Madison (Matthew's son) is considered a unisex name, and Harper is used as a boy's name.
When it comes to boys, names the end with "n" seem to be much preferred. Jackson, Aiden, Grayson, Mason, Ethan, Sebastian, Lincoln, Colton... and the trend continues. The most popular initials appear to be L, J, and C.
Sources: babycenter.com, ksat.com, today.com, afro.com
Editor's Note (January 12, 2021): this article has been updated to state that the list of names originated from BabyCenter.