The 100 most popular baby names in the US in 2023 revealed in new government data

The most popular baby names in the US from the past decade have been released – and social media has put some new names at the top of the list.

Liam and Olivia remained the top boy and girl names in 2023, marking the seventh and sixth years that they have both held the top spot.

Last year, Emma and Charlotte took second and third places for girls’ names, while Noah and Oliver were the number two and three best-chosen boys’ names.

Only one new name appeared in the top 10 list for 2023, with Mateo making the top boys list for the first time, coming in at number six.

While some names have stood the test of time, the Social Security Administration (SSA) reported that social media stars have influenced new parents’ name choices more than ever.

Kaeli was the fastest rising girl’s name last year, jumping 1,692 places behind YouTube and TikTok influencer Kaeli McEwen, known as Kaeli Mae, who has a million followers and promotes a clean and tidy lifestyle.

The SSA reported that TikTok creator Wyatt Eiden’s three million followers may have helped the name Eiden become the third fastest-rising boys’ name in 2023.

The top names were compiled from annual data on all babies registered with the SSA at birth. The agency started collecting names in 1997.

Liam has been overwhelmingly popular as a boy’s name since the name took over the top spot in 2017, replacing Noah – the number one choice since 2013.

The name was inspired by several pop culture celebrities, including Irish actor Liam Neeson and former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne.

Olivia has been the most popular girl’s name in the US since 2018, first increasing in popularity after the release of the 2012 TV show ‘Scandal’, after the main character Olivia Pope.

Other celebrities may have inspired Olivia’s rise to number one, including the late “Grease” star Olivia Newton-John and singer Olivia Rodrigo.

Of the nearly 3.6 million babies born last year, 20,802 boys were named Liam, while 15,270 girls were named Olivia.

Amelia came in fourth place for girls’ names for the third year in a row, while Sophia returned in fifth place for the second year.

Data from the SSA also revealed that some names have risen in popularity, including Mateo – which was number 1,000 in 1995 and jumped to number six in 2023.

‘Mateo made a huge leap. … The fact that Mateo went from number 11 in 2022 to number 6 in 2023 is insane,” Sophie Kihm, editor-in-chief of baby name website Nameberry, told me. CNN.

“We don’t see that very often at the top of the charts,” she added.

Popular TV shows have also influenced parents’ decisions: Game of Thrones-inspired baby names skyrocketed in the 2010s, and in 2018, nearly 5,000 children were named after the characters.

The top name trends don’t change often or quickly, with only five girls’ names and four boys’ names ranking number one in the last thirty years.

Mateo’s rising popularity could be due to the increasing Hispanic population in the US, Kihm told CNN.

This is a major cultural milestone, she continued, saying it is the first “recognizable Latino (boy) name” to reach the top 10 list.

Parents were also drawn to “powerful names” last year, the SSA found, saying Emryn, meaning “immortal” and “ruler,” rose 1,287 places into the top 1,000 baby names.

Meanwhile, the name Chozen was listed as one of the fastest rising boy names after YuJi Okumoto’s role of Chozen Toguchi in the Netflix show ‘Cobra Kai’.

Popular TV shows have also influenced parents’ decisions, with Game of Thrones-inspired baby names skyrocketing in the 2010s.

Nearly 5,000 children were named after the characters in 2018, and even five years after the series ended, the names have remained somewhat popular: last year, 397 baby girls were named Khaleesi.

Over the past decade, parents have become more likely to choose a name that rolls off the tongue rather than one with a “hard stop.” said Linguist Adam Cooper, professor at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

“It’s really interesting to see how prominent the patterns were,” Cooper said. ‘Names like Patrick, Peter or Greg, these are names that would be more ‘stopful’, so to speak. These stop sounds aren’t actually listed.’

Parents have also begun to focus on what is called phone aesthetics – the beauty or elegance associated with the names – which are softer sounding and end with a vowel or ‘nah’ sound.

“You could say there’s more flow in the sounds and sound combinations that make up these popular names,” Cooper said, referring to last year’s list of the best baby names.

“If we relate what we know about English phoneaesthetics, virtually all the names here would be ‘phoneaesthetically pleasing,'” he added.