Premier Rachel Notley announced the top baby names in Alberta in 2018; Loki didn’t make the cut

If you had a baby last year and named them Olivia or Liam, then you were among the top name pickers in Alberta.

Premier Rachel Notley announced the top 10 boys and girls names for 2018, which showed some changes over previous years.

Of the 50,104 babies born in Alberta last year, the split was pretty close with 25,717 boys and 24,387 girls.

Olivia was the top name for girls (fifth year in a row), while Emma and Charlotte were close behind. For the boys, Liam hit the top mark with Oliver and Noah coming in not that far behind.

“Congratulations to all the new parents, and welcome to all of our new Albertans. As these children grow up, they will shape our future. We are going to help make sure they get a great start,” stated Premier Rachel Notley in a Tuesday press release.

Despite the top picks, Alberta saw a diverse number of baby names; Service Alberta states it recorded 13,363 different baby names registered in 2018.

Some of those names were inspired by super hero movies, but also from Star Wars movies and places and gemstones.

“Some of the more unique names appear to be inspired by Marvel comics (Loki, Thanos, Captain), Star Wars films (Kylo, Leia, Anakin), books from the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus), places (Ireland, Chicago, Venice), outer space (Galaxy, Jupiter, Moon) and gemstones (Amethyst, Sapphire, Onyx, Diamond).”

2018 Boy Names

First: Liam (225, number of babies)

Second: Oliver (212)

Third: Noah (199)

Fourth: Ethan (188)

Fifth: Logan (182) and Lucas (182)

Sixth: Jacob (181)

Seventh: William (178)

Eighth: Benjamin (176)

Ninth: Jack (167)

Tenth: Alexander (158) and James (158)

2018 Girl Names

First: Olivia (235, number of babies)

Second: Emma (230)

Third: Charlotte (175)

Fourth: Emily (164)

Fifth: Ava (161)

Sixth: Abigail (153)

Seventh: Harper (150)

Eighth: Sophia (146)

Ninth: Amelia (145)

Tenth: Elizabeth (130)

Quick facts

• Oliver climbed six spots to become the second most popular boys’ name.

• James cracked the boys’ top 10 list for the first time since 1983.

• Harper and Elizabeth appeared in the girls’ top 10 list for the first time since records began in 1980.

• Tied names mean there are 12 names on the boys’ top 10 list, with Logan and Lucas both in the fifth spot, and Alexander and James tied for spot No. 10.

• Parents have up to a year to register their children’s births. As a result, 2018 baby names lists and birth statistics may change slightly.

• Albertans can look up more than 95,000 names dating back to 1980 through the Alberta Baby Names App, available for free download on iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

• Baby names statistics are recorded by the Vital Statistics branch of Service Alberta, and are based on the registration and notice of birth information.

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