Jackson leads the boys’ list for the sixth year in a row, and Sophia tops the girls’ list for the ninth year running, making it the decade-defining name for girls born in the 2010s, according to the Top 100 Names of 2018 released by BabyCenter, the #1 pregnancy and parenting digital resource.
“Sophia is the dominant girls’ name of the decade, with no signs of slowing down,” says Linda Murray, BabyCenter’s Senior Vice President of Consumer Experience and Global Editor in Chief. “It has worldwide appeal, it’s pronounceable in multiple languages, and it’s feminine and sophisticated all at once. As for Jackson, it’s a modern twist on the old classic Jack.”
Millennial and Gen Z moms and dads found name inspiration in their passions and values in 2018. The names they chose evoke wildly varied topics, such as peace and spirituality, foods and flavors, the second Kardashian generation, and the online game Fortnite.
“Parents are inspired by the things they love as well as the sound of a name,” says Murray. “In the past, we’d look to the Bible or royalty for name inspiration. Today’s parents turn to other sources. We’ve had two decades plus of ‘unique’ names, and anything goes. It’s not like the days when every other baby was named Jessica, Jason, or Jennifer.”
(See below for more detail on the top trends of 2018.)
Top 10 baby names of 2018
|
Girls |
Boys |
|
|
1. |
Sophia |
Jackson |
|
2. |
Olivia |
Liam |
|
3. |
Emma |
Noah |
|
4. |
Ava |
Aiden |
|
5. |
Isabella |
Caden |
|
6. |
Aria |
Grayson |
|
7. |
Riley |
Lucas |
|
8. |
Amelia |
Mason |
|
9. |
Mia |
Oliver (new) |
|
10. |
Layla (new) |
Elijah |
See all 100 most popular names of the year.
The hottest baby name trends of 2018
Zen names
The stress of our go-go-go, always-on world has parents turning to Eastern spiritual practices like meditation and yoga, and re-centering their perspective on what matters most. They’re choosing baby girl names like Peace (up 66 percent), Harmony (up 15 percent), Rainbow (up 26 percent), and Hope(up 10 percent). Parents of boys are increasingly interested in earth-friendly names like Ocean (up 31 percent) and Sky (up 38 percent).
Everybody plays Fortnite
Multiplayer survival game Fortnite has taken the gaming world by storm, attracting more than 125 million players in its first year. But it’s not just 14-year-olds paying attention to the game – parents are playing, too, and sending game-inspired names up the charts. Ramirez, the name of a Fortnite character, jumped 57 percent. The names of the “skins” used to costume the characters also caught on. Consider Leviathan (up 46 percent for boys), Bunny (up 30 percent for girls), and Rogue (up 47 percent for girls and 21 percent for boys).
Next Jenneration
The Kardashian-Jenner clan still wields power over baby names, with three high-profile pregnancies and babies this year alone. Some parents of girls took cues from Kylie Jenner (Stormi, her daughter’s name, jumped 63 percent) or Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna (Dream, their daughter’s name, rose 42 percent). As for the boys, Kim and Kanye’s Saint leapt 42 percent, and Reign, the name of Kourtney’s third child, gained 27 percent.
Names you can taste
As fast food and processed snacks lose ground to clean eating and Paleo diets, more Gen Z and Millennial parents are choosing baby names that reflect their love of healthy foods. For girls, Kale (up 35 percent), Kiwi (up 40 percent), Maple (up 32 percent), and Clementine (up 15 percent) are on the rise. Herbs and spices are inspiring names for both girls and boys: Think Saffron (up 31 percent for girls), Rosemary (up 20 percent for girls), and Sage (up 15 percent for boys).
The all-American Gaines
Fixer Upper’s Chip and Joanna Gaines left their HGTV megahit, but they’re still setting trends in design, furniture … and baby names. Several of the Gaines family’s names showed up in the Top 100 in 2018. Magnolia, the name of their business empire, is up 21 percent. And the names of their kids are also on the rise: Emmie (up 13 percent), Ella (up 8 percent), Drake (up 23 percent), and Crew (up 4 percent).
BabyCenter’s new app is like Tinder for names
If finding the right baby name is hard, finding one you and your partner agree on is nearly impossible. However, BabyCenter’s new app makes it easy to find names you love and share them with your partner. Combining 20 years of baby names data with powerful analysis tools, the app suggests names it thinks you’ll like. Swipe right to put one on your list, swipe left to send it to the reject pile. You can create a match list with your partner to minimize naming negotiations, quickly see the meaning and origin of each name without tedious searching, and discover cool new names. The more you swipe, the better the app gets at predicting what you’ll like.
