As the year comes to a close, the results of the most popular baby names of 2022 are officially in.
BabyCenter, an online media company, has released its report of the top 100 baby names chosen by parents who welcomed “about 416,000 babies” this year, from 1 January through 1 November.
This year, the list showed an emerging trend towards nature-themed baby names, optimistic noun names, cowboy-esque names and even baby names inspired by the “coastal grandmother” aesthetic.
In 2022, the top 10 names for girls were Olivia, Emma, Amelia, Ava, Sophia, Isabella, Luna, Mia, Charlotte and Evelyn. The top five baby girls’ names remained the same from last year’s report, with each name ending in the letter “a”.
BabyCenter reported that Evelyn was the only name to break into the top 10, pushing Harper out. In addition, Isabella moved up from seven to six compared to last year, and Charlotte fell down from spot six to spot nine. Meanwhile, Luna moved up two spots, from nine to seven.
Liam reigned supreme in the race for top 10 boy names of 2022, followed by Noah, Oliver, Elijah, Mateo, Lucas, Levi, Asher, James and Leo. Liam was ranked as the most popular boy name in 2021, with Noah in the same second-place spot last year. Oliver and Elijah also maintained their third and fourth place spots.
Mateo entered the top 10 this year, jumping from 11 to five, and Lucas was pushed down into the sixth spot. Levi shifted from six to seven and Leo moved into the number 10 spot, while Mason and Ethan both fell out of the top 10.
For gender-neutral names, River rose 31 places on both the girl and boy lists. Some names which significantly grew in popularity compared to last year were Athena, Iris and Freya, while the names Ellie, Riley, Emily, Bella, Savannah, Aubrey, Hannah and Madison fell in popularity.
As for boy names, Legend and Atlas broke into the top 100 names, while Waylon was ranked in the top 50. Among the names which fell in popularity were Cameron and Andrew. Both Logan and Jack also fell out of the top 20.
Not only did BabyCenter release the list of most popular baby names, but they also identified which trends influenced families in naming their babies. Utopian baby names – such as Miracle, Heaven, Destiny, Dream and Legacy – are on the rise. Names inspired by nature and astronomy also became a common trend in 2022. Those associated with flowers, trees, and animals – like Meadow, Iris and Ivy – were in the top 100 baby names.
BabyCenter identified a new trend of celestial baby names. Nova, which means star, went up nine spots, and Aurora, which references the northern lights, moved up to spot 14.
Disney and Marvel had a stronghold on baby names this year, with the names Mirabel and Bruno from Disney’s Encanto on the rise. Even the name Zendaya, after the Spider-Man star, jumped to the top 500.
Western-inspired names were also a major baby name trend, most likely due to the popularity of the Paramount Network series, Yellowstone. Dutton, the surname of the family on the show, shot up more than 1,800 spots since 2021. Kayce, Rip, Stetson, Waylon, Walker and Wyatt also made waves in the top baby names list.
It was a big year for the “coastal grandmother” trend, which began on TikTok as a way to describe the style of middle-aged, wealthy women who live near the beach and are straight out of a Nancy Meyers movie. Now, the coastal grandmother aesthetic extends not just to fashion, food and interior design, but also to baby names.
Erica, Mae, Mabel, Hazel, Ada, Eloise, Lillian, Alice, Rosemary, and Adeline are all vintage, coastal grandmother-esque names which received renewed attention this year.
Perhaps the biggest trend in baby names was seen when the name Elon – as in the infamous Twitter owner – dropped more than 450 spots, while the name Kanye dropped 3,410 spots since last year.
