Baby names change along with the times. Although the top two names for girls and boys, Sophia and Liam, held their own in 2020, others have slipped a bit. Trendy Grayson was overtaken by more traditional boy names like Noah and Elijah, while Caden, Lucas and Jackson held their own, all making the top 10 baby name list for boys. Karen and Chad both fell in popularity.

 

By Any Other Name…

 

Although unisex names are gaining in popularity, none made the top 10 list for either boys or girls, except for possibly Riley, number three on the baby girl list. Even so, these unisex names were popular in 2020:

 

• Elliot
• Royal
• Justice
• River
• Skyler
• Dakota
• Reese
• Angel
• Charley

 

Names that were once wildly popular that now sound dated:

 

• Elmer
• Hattie
• Gladys
• Harriet
• Albert
• Hazel

 

In fact, of old-fashioned or Biblical names, only Noah and Elijah made the top ten list for boys in 2020. Dorothy, made very popular in the 1940s and 50s by the Wizard of Oz, and Shirley, the name inspired by the child actress moppet Shirley Temple, have both long faded from glory. Susan, once so popular in the 1940s and 1950s that single classrooms often had five or more little girls with that name, is rarely given to baby girls today.

 

Aaliyah, number eight on the baby girl top ten for 2020, may be a nod to the talented young singer of the same name who lost her life in a plane crash in 2002.

 

Fun Facts About French Names

 

Did you know that not all parents are free to name their children as they wish? In France, it wasn’t until 1993 that parents finally received governmental permission to choose a child’s first name not previously approved by officials. However, French officials do retain the right to reject an irreverent, derogatory, pejorative, obscene or ridiculous name. In 2015, a French court refused to allow a couple to retain their daughter’s given name, Nutella, forcing them to change it to Ella. Many other countries have laws about what parents can name their children.

 

The Top Ten Names of 2020

 

Without further delay, here they are:

 

GIRLS

 

• Sophia
• Olivia
• Riley
• Emma
• Ava
• Isabella
• Aria
• Aaliyah
• Amelia
• Mia

 

BOYS

 

• Liam
• Noah
• Jackson
• Aiden
• Elijah
• Grayson
• Lucas
• Oliver
• Caden
• Mateo

 

We love babies of all names! If you haven’t chosen your pediatrician yet, we’d love to partner with your family on its wellness journey. Give us a call, today!