The classic names remain the overwhelming choice for the little Albertans welcomed into the world in 2015.
Olivia was the overwhelming favourite for newborn girls 293 times for newborn girls while Liam was chosen 301 times for baby boys.
It was another record breaking year for births in our province with 56,529 little Albertans coming into the world; 27,711 girls and 28,816 boys.
“As I experienced with my recent pregnancy, naming a baby is a very exciting venture for parents,” said Stephanie Mclean, Minister of Service Alberta. “Alberta is truly one of the best places to raise a family, and our government is making it even better by supporting parents through the Alberta Child Benefit and enhanced Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit, which will provide more than $340 million in benefits to hard working families throughout the province.
Abigail, Ella, Sophia, Emily and Emma remain at the top of the list for girls; while Noah, Benjamin, William, Oliver, and Ethan are still the top choices for boys.
Popular culture also continues to inspire parents with that list including Tyrion from the Game of Thrones, Katniss from the Hunger Games trilogy, and Elsa from Disney’s Frozen.
There are a number of creative names inspired by nature, places and traits including Winter, Arizona, Unity, Justice and Unique for girls and Sky-light, West, Wisdom, and Jet for boys.
A few stand-out names on the list include Wealth, Crew, Chevy, Hero, and True for boys and Patience, Mercy, Karma, Journey, and Symphony for girls.
The Vital Statistics branch of Service Alberta recorded 6,374 distinct boy names and 7,590 distinct girl names in 2015.
The breakdown of the most popular baby names over the past three years shows little movement among the top ten choices.
Alberta’s top names for baby girls
(In bracket is number of children with each name)
Place |
Girl Names (2015) |
Girl Names (2014) |
Girl Names (2013) |
|
1 |
Olivia (293) |
Olivia |
Olivia |
|
2 |
Emma (275) |
Emma |
Emma |
|
3 |
Emily (252) |
Emily |
Emily |
|
4 |
Sophia (205) |
Sophia |
Sophia |
|
5 |
Ava (201) |
Ava |
Ava |
|
6 |
Chloe |
Isabella |
Avery |
|
7 |
Ella |
Abigail |
Abigail |
|
8 |
Abigail |
Ella |
Charlotte |
|
9 |
Avery |
Charlotte |
Chloe |
|
10 |
Amelia |
Hannah |
Lily |
Alberta’s top names for baby boys
(In bracket is number of children with each name)
Place |
Boy Names (2015) |
Boy Names (2014) |
Boy Names (2013) |
|
1 |
Liam (301) |
Liam |
Liam |
|
2 |
Noah (256) |
Ethan |
Lucas |
|
3 |
Ethan (233) |
Benjamin |
Ethan |
|
4 |
Benjamin (221) |
William |
Noah |
|
5 |
Lucas (218) |
Logan |
Logan |
|
6 |
William |
Noah |
Benjamin |
|
7 |
Oliver |
Jacob |
William |
|
8 |
Mason |
Oliver |
Jacob |
|
9 |
Logan |
Lucas |
Mason |
|
10 |
Alexander |
Carter |
Carter |
Albertans trying to choose the perfect name can download the free Alberta Baby Names app for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. The app has more than 95,000 Alberta baby names dating back to 1980.
