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Mothers hand comforting new born baby boy sleeping.
The Social Security Administration has released its list of the most popular baby names for 2018, and there may be some familiar monikers among them.
Liam was the most popular name for male babies for the second year in a row. It was the fifth-straight year for Emma in the top slot for baby girls.
Males Females Liam Emma Noah Olivia William Ava James Isabella Oliver Sophia Source: Social Security Administration
In fact, for the past decade, the top five girls’ names have been consistent, with some shifting of ranks: Emma, Olivia, Ava, Isabella, and Sophia. (2008 was also the last name a female name that didn’t end in “a,” in this case, Emily, cracked the top five.)
The Social Security Administration web site allows you to see the most popular names by year, by decade, or by geographical area. You can also track the popularity of a name over time. For example, Emma wasn’t even in the top 10 as of 2001 – and from that point on, it’s never been out of the top four.
Over 18,000 babies born in 2018, or 1.012% of total female births, were named Emma. In contrast, Liam was at Number 15 as of 2011, then jumped to the sixth-most popular name the following year, and didn’t crack the top five until 2013. But in 2018, more baby boys were named Liam than girls were named Emma: 19837, which represents 1.028% of total male births last year.
Archie, the name of the newest member of Britain’s royal family, was 992nd in popularity in 2018.
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