Top Ten Baby Names in the US: May 2024 Update

The Top Ten baby names in the US are here … and they look an awful lot like last year’s list.

At least at first glance.

GIRLS’ TOP TEN

The girls’ list is unchanged from 2022, though a few names shifted position.

1. Olivia – unchanged
2. Emma – unchanged
3. Charlotte – unchanged
4. Amelia – unchanged
5. Sophia – unchanged
6. Mia – up two
7. Isabella – down one
8. Ava – down one
9. Evelyn – unchanged
10. Luna – unchanged

At first glance, this looks pretty much like the status quo. But the rankings hide an interesting fact: the most popular names continue to stay on top not because they’re gaining in use. In fact, most are actually falling in terms of total births. (15,270 girls were named Olivia in calendar year 2023. That’s a big number, to be sure, but it’s down from 16,630 in 2022 … and a continuing downward trend from 2014’s peak Olivia year of 19,829.)

It’s just that nothing has climbed high enough to replace them – yet.

BOYS’ TOP TEN

The boys’ list saw just the tiniest bit more movement.

1. Liam – unchanged
2. Noah – unchanged
3. Oliver – unchanged
4. James – unchanged
5. Elijah – unchanged
6. Mateo – up five
7. Theodore – up three
8. Henry – down one
9. Lucas – down one
10. William – down four

Benjamin dropped out of the Top Ten, falling to #11.

Mateo’s rise into the US Top Ten represents a small, but significant, leap. The name charted at #11 last year. Romance language versions of familiar classics continue to outpace the more familiar English picks. Could Luca replace Lucas? Diego swap in for James? The sounds of the names we choose for our sons are changing, and that’s big.