The Social Security Administration Has Released the Most Popular Baby Names of the Year (2024)

Liam and Olivia are currently the most popular baby names in the United States.
The Social Security Administration has also released a list of baby names that are rising fast in popularity.
TV shows, the Royal Family and a tendency to choose shorter names are a few of the trends that are influencing the names that are climbing the charts.

Choosing a name for a baby is a big commitment. Do you want to go with an all-time classic name, or something trendy and of-the-moment? Do you want a popular name, or do you want to find something that's truly unique (but not so unique that it's an illegal baby name)? And, if it's the latter, how do you know that your unique name isn't one that's going to top all of the baby lists in the next five years?

It's time to do some research. Here are the current most popular baby names for girls, baby names for boys and gender-neutral baby names, along with some trends and predictions about the most popular baby names of 2020 (and some data about which names are losing in popularity, too).

These are the most popular baby names at the moment.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has been keeping track of the popularity of baby names, and its database goes back to the year 1879. Usually, the SSA releases the list of the most popular baby names of the previous year around Mother's Day — this year, in an effort to be sensitive to those dealing with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency waited until September.

If you go by the new numbers, Liam and Olivia are the current chart-topping baby names for boys and girls. Liam was in the No. 1 position for boys last year, but Olivia has unseated the always-popular Emma for the top spot. (Emma is now No. 2.) Noah, Oliver, William and Elijah round out the top five names for boys, and Ava, Sophia and Isabella complete the top five for girls. (The top 50 for each are listed below.)

These names are rising fast in popularity.

Will the current rankings last? The SSA also keeps track of names that are the rising fastest through the ranks. Even though these aren't most popular by a long shot, they could be hitting the top of the charts in a few years. They are Sekani, Ermias, Amias, Kyro and Ambrose for boys, and Amoura, Theodora, Navy, Emani and Yaritza for girls.

Names that are losing popularity? Say goodbye to the ubiquity of Jaxton, Bryson, Chad, Bowie and Coen, along with Emmarie, Saniyah, Tatiana, Zhavia and Jayden.

Four-letter names are becoming the norm.

As the popularity of names like Kyro and Navy suggest, research says that are baby names are getting shorter — with the four-letter name becoming the ideal. This is especially true for girls, with names like Zara, Mila and Cora getting traction, though boy names like Bode and Zaid are gaining ground, too.

Nameberry, BabyCenter, and Names.org catch more up-and-comers.

The websites Nameberry and BabyCenter track interest in baby names among its users, catching names on the rise before they hit the SSA list. According to Nameberry, the most popular names for 2020 are Luna, Maeve, Aurora, Olivia and Isla for girls; Milo, Asher, Atticus, Oliver and Levi for boys; and Ellis, Phoenix, Remy, Marlowe and Shea for gender-neutral names.

And when BabyCenter recently released its list of the most popular names among its users, there were many that weren't yet in the top 50 on the SSA list, including Aaliyah, Eliana and Scarlett for girls, and Muhammad, Josiah and Isaiah for boys.

And Names.org uses SSA data to predict with the next year's trends will be based on the increases in popularity from the previous year. After crunching the numbers, the site expects Sebastian, Theodore, Asher and Leo to hit the top 10 boys' names, and Camila, Nova, Everly and Ivy to climb for girls.

Parents are borrowing names from other countries.

Nameberry notes the biggest trend for boys may be the rise in international names, like Luca, Kai, Axel and Mateo. Scandinavian names, like Anders, Bjorn, Gunnar, Leif, Magnus and Thor, are becoming particularly hot. Then again, the far-and-away biggest riser for boys among Nameberry users is homegrown: Maverick. (Any Top Gun fans out there?)

Everything royal continues to do well.

BabyCenter says anything to do with the English monarchy gives those names a royal bump. It reports that interest in the name Meghan jumped 49 percent for girls after the royal wedding, for example. Archie was one of the top-ten climbers for boys, according to the SSA, and BabyCenter even predicts similar bumps for Eugenie and Jack.

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People are choosing names from the '20s — and the '90s.

BabyCenter has seen an increase in interest in Jazz Age names, like Frank (up 17 percent), Barbara (up 11 percent), Ruth (up 10 percent), Virginia and Tony. But just as many are looking to a more recent past, with names that recall '90s boy band/pop star days, like Brittany (up 33 percent), Nicole, Amber, Nicholas, Austin and Jonathan. (They say it might be a VSCO-girl thing.)

Pop-culture still drives some names.

Parents are feeling the force to name their kids after Star Wars characters: The SSA had Kylo (as in Kylo Ren) is one of the top 10 fastest-climbing names in 2018. BabyCenter also notes that Cassian — one of the main characters in Rogue One who is reported to get his own Disney+ show — jumped 10 percent, and Leia had a 30 percent increase in lookups. So far, there haven't been any reports of kids named "Baby Yoda" — yet.

And, even though it's over, Game of Thrones is still one of the main name-generators. Aria has already cracked the top 20. According to BabyCenter: Olenna is up 71%, Ellaria is up 53% and Stark is up 9% among its users. Aria hit the top 20 for girls this year, and Yara was also on the list of the SSA's fastest-climbing names in 2018, having jumped more than 300 places in rank in that year.

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If the Starks aren't influencing baby names, then it's the Kardashian/Jenners. In addition to the rise of Saint (a name that's actually banned in some countries because it resembles an official title), BabyCenter has seen interest rise in Stormi, True, Chicago, Dream, Reign and even Nori, the nickname for North. It's only a matter of time before Psalm enters the list, too.

Plus, everyone loves Keanu Reeves.

BabyCenter says interest in the name Keanu has increased 24 percent.

Between John Wick Chapter 3, Always Be My Maybe and Toy Story 4, the Bill and Ted Face the Music star has been on everybody's minds lately. It's amazing to think about future daycare classes and all of the little Keanus running around together.