These were the biggest baby names of 2023

Outside of very official government birth records from the Social Security Administration, the next most credible source when it comes to all things baby names is BabyCenter.com. Baby Center is the world’s foremost digital parenting resource, and not only does the site rank baby names registered by hundreds of thousands of parents it also tracks trends in choosing names for kids.

As 2023 comes to a close they have put out their list of the top 10 most popular boy names and girl names for the year gone by. According to the site there’s a new sheriff in town.

The new number one most popular boy name is now Noah. Keep in mind these are national rankings whereas according to other sources Noah was expected to be the second most popular name specifically in New Jersey.

Other popular names just in New Jersey show there’s still that strong Catholic influence in our state with names like Michael, Joseph and James still in the top 10.

So what were the top boy names for 2023 according to Baby Center?

1️⃣ Noah
2️⃣ Liam
3️⃣ Oliver
4️⃣ Elijah
5️⃣ Mateo
6️⃣ Lucas
7️⃣ Levi
8️⃣ Leo
9️⃣ Ezra
🔟 Luca

Why are we so L crazy? Five of the top ten names begin with L? What the L is going on?!

On the girls side it was, in my opinion, more predictable. The top three are identical to last year.

1️⃣ Olivia
2️⃣ Emma
3️⃣ Amelia
4️⃣ Sophia
5️⃣ Charlotte
6️⃣ Ava
7️⃣ Isabella
8️⃣ Mia
9️⃣ Luna
🔟 Evelyn

The report on naming trends is really interesting. Formal names are out where their typical nicknames are in.

Examples would be Theo being much more popular than Theodore and Leo being far more used as a legal first name than Leonardo.

Josie far outranks Josephine. Ellie is replacing Eleanor and Elizabeth. So cute nicknames are becoming the full legal first names.

Another trend worth noting is a surge in popularity happening for three letter names like Teo, Kai and Jay for boys, Lia, Tia and Joy for girls.

You know what’s trending downward? Geographic names. Sorry Memphis, Phoenix, Dakota and Aspen, you’re not nearly as popular as you once were.

Names are fun. But if you want to get really grounded back to reality then of the many features on babycenter.com the one to check out is the baby cost calculator. Try over $15,000 for the first year alone. Sorry to throw a bucket of ice water on this naming party, but there you go.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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