Mwalimu-G
Elder Lister
Most popular baby names of 2020
By Lucy Robinson
|
October 19, 2020
Sophia is officially the reigning queen of girls' names for the 11th year in a row! While the top 10 didn't change from last year, most names moved up or down. Aaliyah outdid Amelia and Mia, and Aria slipped behind Isabella. Most notably, Riley jumped up six spots. Riley is also the only name in the top 10 that doesn't end with the feminine “ah” sound. We'll keep an eye on girls' names ending with a "y" next year.
As for boys' names, Liam took the number one spot for the second year in a row. Caden dropped three places, Elijah overtook Grayson and Lucas, and Noah gained traction. Muhammad fell from the top 10, edged out by Mateo – which could be the influence of Lionel Messi, the international soccer superstar whose young son Mateo has his own legion of fans, or the popular show Jane the Virgin (Jane's son is named Mateo).
Baby names are always a mirror of the times. Changes in the 2020 list reflect a year of loss and political divisiveness. Kobe shot up 175% after Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, lost his life in a tragic helicopter accident alongside his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna (up 216%). On the social and political fronts, Kamala (up 104%) and Liberty (up 12%) rose in popularity, while Karen and Chad declined by 13% and 12% respectively.
Here are the top baby names of the year, contributed by more than 520,000 BabyCenter parents. We combined spellings of similar names to find their true popularity. For ideas beyond the top 100, check out our baby name inspiration video, baby name polls, and themed name lists.
By Lucy Robinson
|
October 19, 2020
Sophia is officially the reigning queen of girls' names for the 11th year in a row! While the top 10 didn't change from last year, most names moved up or down. Aaliyah outdid Amelia and Mia, and Aria slipped behind Isabella. Most notably, Riley jumped up six spots. Riley is also the only name in the top 10 that doesn't end with the feminine “ah” sound. We'll keep an eye on girls' names ending with a "y" next year.
As for boys' names, Liam took the number one spot for the second year in a row. Caden dropped three places, Elijah overtook Grayson and Lucas, and Noah gained traction. Muhammad fell from the top 10, edged out by Mateo – which could be the influence of Lionel Messi, the international soccer superstar whose young son Mateo has his own legion of fans, or the popular show Jane the Virgin (Jane's son is named Mateo).
Baby names are always a mirror of the times. Changes in the 2020 list reflect a year of loss and political divisiveness. Kobe shot up 175% after Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, lost his life in a tragic helicopter accident alongside his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna (up 216%). On the social and political fronts, Kamala (up 104%) and Liberty (up 12%) rose in popularity, while Karen and Chad declined by 13% and 12% respectively.
Here are the top baby names of the year, contributed by more than 520,000 BabyCenter parents. We combined spellings of similar names to find their true popularity. For ideas beyond the top 100, check out our baby name inspiration video, baby name polls, and themed name lists.
! 