Ten Surprising Baby Name Trends

The Social Security Administration put out their updated baby name stats a while back . . . the #1 name for boys last year was Liam, and Olivia for girls.

But people are still going through all those stats and finding interesting stuff.  Here are ten surprising baby name trends from 2020 . . .

1.  Britney was NOT a popular name last year.  Only 99 babies named Britney were born in the U.S.  But that might change this year because of all the “Free Britney” stuff.

2.  Ezekiel is now a more popular name than Robert.  It’s the 65th most popular name for a boy.  Robert is 80th.

3.  Hannah is still a popular girl’s name, but Nova is MORE popular.  It ranked 38th, and Hannah is 39th.

4.  Denise is one of the fastest-rising baby names for girls.  It dropped out of the top 1,000 five years ago.  But it’s surging back.  And “Denisse” with two S’s is more popular than the normal spelling right now.

5.  Legend is more popular than George.  Only 2,700 boys were named George last year.  Just over 2,800 were named Legend.

6.  Maverick is one of the most popular boy names in South Dakota.  It ranked 49th overall in 2020, but fourth in South Dakota.

7.  Serenity is way more popular than Lauren now.  Almost three times more girls were named Serenity than Lauren last year.

8.  Axel is more popular than Adam.  The name Adam peaked in the 1980s at 18th, but now it’s 96th.  Axel was the 72nd most popular name last year.

9.  Dior is one of the fastest-growing names for girls AND boys.  It rose 108 spots and is now the 499th most popular name for girls.  It also jumped 434 spots and is now in the top 1,000 for boys.

10.  In general, we get more creative with girls’ names.  They track every name that’s given to at least five babies each year.  The 2020 list includes 13,911 boy names, and 17,360 different girl names.  So about 25% more variety.

What about here in Illinois?!

Good question, dear reader!

Popularity for top 100 names in Illinois for births in 2020

Rank	Male name	Number of males	Female name	Number of females
1	Noah	709	Olivia	638
2	Liam	621	Emma	567
3	Oliver	606	Charlotte	514
4	Benjamin	541	Sophia	496
5	Henry	474	Amelia	487
6	William	461	Ava	486
7	James	447	Isabella	431
8	Mateo	436	Evelyn	408
9	Alexander	433	Mia	405
10	Michael	433	Camila	372
11	Elijah	414	Sofia	321
12	Jack	403	Gianna	316
13	Theodore	402	Eleanor	291
14	Lucas	400	Mila	280
15	Logan	384	Harper	279
16	Owen	377	Emilia	269
17	Daniel	369	Nora	265
18	Leo	340	Abigail	264
19	Ethan	327	Grace	248
20	Julian	325	Avery	246
21	Sebastian	324	Emily	246
22	Anthony	315	Elizabeth	243
23	Jacob	314	Aria	242
24	Mason	312	Victoria	242
25	John	306	Ella	241
26	Jackson	303	Layla	231
27	Joseph	299	Luna	231
28	Charles	296	Penelope	220
29	David	291	Zoey	220
30	Aiden	286	Scarlett	208
31	Lincoln	270	Violet	201
32	Carter	266	Madison	195
33	Jayden	266	Maya	193
34	Levi	262	Lillian	191
35	Matthew	262	Chloe	188
36	Samuel	261	Lily	188
37	Nathan	259	Natalie	184
38	Gabriel	255	Elena	173
39	Wyatt	255	Hannah	171
40	Thomas	251	Brooklyn	169
41	Josiah	246	Lucy	169
42	Leonardo	246	Madelyn	169
43	Grayson	240	Ellie	167
44	Santiago	232	Riley	167
45	Luke	230	Claire	166
46	Isaiah	226	Hazel	166
47	Dylan	225	Everly	162
48	Elias	225	Natalia	162
49	Miles	224	Addison	161
50	Isaac	223	Zoe	160
51	Cameron	222	Stella	158
52	Adam	218	Nova	157
53	Ryan	211	Isla	156
54	Nolan	208	Aubrey	153
55	Hudson	204	Eliana	152
56	Nicholas	198	Quinn	151
57	Luca	195	Audrey	148
58	Christopher	194	Skylar	147
59	Maverick	194	Aurora	145
60	Joshua	192	Josephine	144
61	Andrew	190	Naomi	142
62	Asher	188	Savannah	140
63	Jaxon	188	Leah	139
64	Dominic	185	Ivy	132
65	Caleb	180	Anna	130
66	Ezra	180	Delilah	126
67	Adrian	179	Willow	125
68	Landon	179	Aaliyah	122
69	Bennett	178	Bella	121
70	Damian	175	Margaret	121
71	Jonathan	173	Ruby	120
72	Christian	171	Ariana	119
73	Connor	171	Sophie	119
74	Aaron	166	Vivian	119
75	Angel	165	Alice	117
76	Axel	164	Autumn	117
77	Jordan	161	Hailey	117
78	Colton	155	Liliana	116
79	Everett	155	Paisley	116
80	Ezekiel	155	Serenity	114
81	Robert	155	Julia	113
82	Evan	153	Kennedy	113
83	Gael	153	Rose	111
84	Easton	152	Caroline	109
85	Brooks	151	Gabriella	109
86	Amir	149	Kinsley	109
87	Eli	149	Lydia	108
88	Hunter	149	Isabelle	107
89	Declan	147	Allison	106
90	Emmett	146	Melanie	106
91	Parker	145	Ximena	106
92	Giovanni	144	Mackenzie	105
93	Ian	140	Valentina	103
94	Jeremiah	140	Leilani	102
95	Cooper	136	Madeline	100
96	Vincent	136	Cora	99
97	Jameson	135	Samantha	99
98	Maxwell	132	Arya	98
99	Jaxson	130	Maeve	98
100	George	129	Eloise	95
101	Greyson	129	Nevaeh	95
102	Roman	129	Piper	95
103			Sadie	95