The most popular baby names for boys and girls: Social media's influence begins to emerge

Sara Chernikoff, USA TODAY
·2 min read

Choosing a name for your newborn can be a daunting responsibility. Some parents name their child after significant relatives or close friends, others may name their kids after an iconic historical figure, personal hero or religious characters.

Once the child is born, parent's apply for their kids social security card and the legal name is solidified.

If you're looking for your child's name to stand out, it's important to check the most popular newborn names of the past few years. For kids born in 2023, they can expect their graduating high school class to be filled with Liam's and Olivia's.

In fact, for the past 5 years, Olivia and Liam ranked top of the list for America’s most popular baby names. In close second came Noah for boy names and Emma for girl names.

Mother holds newborn baby.
Mother holds newborn baby.

Here are the top 10 boys’ and girls’ names for 2023:

Liam was the only name estimated to be given to more than 20,000 babies last year, according to the Social Security Administration. It was the most popular baby name from 2017-21 and was the most popular boy name in at least 21 states.

  1. Liam

  2. Noah

  3. Oliver

  4. James

  5. Elijah

  6. Mateo

  7. Theodore

  8. Henry

  9. Lucas

  10. William

A baby name trend of Olivia began in 2019. It's been the most popular pick from 2019-2021 and once again ranked at the top in 2023, according to the SSA.

  1. Olivia

  2. Emma

  3. Charlotte

  4. Amelia

  5. Sophia

  6. Mia

  7. Isabella

  8. Ava

  9. Evelyn

  10. Luna

What baby names are trending?

The Social Security Agency tracks names that date back to 1880. The list shows the effect that current pop culture has on name trends.

The SSA believes social media had a major influence on parents in 2023. The agency points to Kaeli - the fastest rising girl’s name last year. The rising popularity of the name may be tied to YouTube and TikTok influencer Kaeli McEwen or Kaeli Mae, who has nearly 15 million followers on TikTok.

Chozen ranks second for fastest rising boy baby names. The Netflix show "Cobra Kai," which aired it's latest season in September 2022, includes a character named Chozen. This may give an explanation to the name's popularity.

In third place for the fastest rising baby name for boy’s is Eiden. The SSA point to TikTok creator Wyatt Eiden’s 1.6 billion views and over 3 million followers that could have influenced this newly popular baby name.

Here is the list of fastest rising baby names in 2023:

Girls:

  1. Kaeli

  2. Alitzel

  3. Emryn

  4. Adhara

  5. Azari

Boys:

  1. Izael

  2. Chozen

  3. Eiden

  4. Cassian

  5. Kyren

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The most popular baby names for boys and girls in 2023: Liam, Olivia