Olivia and Noah continue their reign as Alberta's most popular baby names
If you had a baby in Alberta last year, there's a good change their name is Olivia or Noah.
In an announcement Thursday, the province dubbed the names the most popular in Alberta in 2022.
Olivia has held the top spot for a decade now, with Noah currently on a four-year streak.
"Congratulations to everyone who brought a child into this world in 2022," said Dale Nally, minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, in a press release.
"To those expecting a baby in 2023, or to those who are just plain curious, I encourage you to check out the baby names lists from years past."
Rounding out the top names for girls in 2022:
Olivia (192)
Sophia (151)
Emma (149)
Amelia (133)
Harper (125)
And for boys:
Noah (229)
Liam (176)
Theodore (173)
Oliver (172)
Jack (159)
Olivia has held the top spot for the longest consecutive time period in the province's history, followed by Jessica (six years) and Emily (five years).
Noah is still working its way to the top. Ethan held the top spot for nine years in the province, followed by Liam (seven years) and Matthew (five years).
Lily, James and Lucas also saw bumps in popularity. They each moved back into the top 10 after sliding down the list in previous years. Charlotte was also knocked out of the top five after several years in the second or third spot.
Other notable names took inspiration from places, religious figures, mythology, plants, literature, musicians, seasons, sports and celebrities. The full list of names from this year and previous years can be found here.
Imran Milza is the owner of the Calgary Childcare Centre, which operates two locations in Bridgeland and Crescent Heights.
He says Noah is the most popular name he sees of the kids registered for the daycare.
"We know Olivia and Noah," he said. "We have many children of the name Noah, and we have one child with the name Olivia."
Other than those, the daycare sees many girls with the name Anna, he said.
There were 48,225 births registered in Alberta in 2022 — 24,781 boys and 23,437 girls, according to the provincial release. In seven births, the sex of the baby was not indicated at the time of registration.
In total, 12,966 different names were registered in the province last year.
Parents have up to one year to register their child's birth, so some of the numbers used in the announcement are subject to change.
To explore baby name trends in Alberta over the last 42 years, check out this app created by CBC Calgary data journalist Robson Fletcher.
