An Inside Look at the New Top Names 👀

Plus, Nameberry's Year in Review

Dec 31, 2023

It’s become an end-of-the-year tradition: certain states, cities, and even hospitals will publish stats on their most popular baby names of the year, months before the official data from the Social Security Administration is released in May of the following year.

The state data tends to match up well with the SSA reports — we can expect Ava and John to be on top in Mississippi for 2023, and Olivia and Liam to hold steady in Arizona.

The city and hospital stats offer an even more localized view, often with unexpected choices like Avery and Hudson taking the top spots.

Combining all the data results in a patchwork prediction of the official popularity charts for 2023 and beyond:

Charlotte and Henry are Moving Up…Fast

Charlotte and Henry sit atop many local lists — Charlotte in Rhode Island, Detroit, and Des Moines, among others, and Henry in State College, Pennsylvania, La Crosse, Wisconsin, and more.

Nationally ranked at Number 3 (Charlotte) and Number 7 (Henry), we can expect to see these classic royal names to move up the national charts.

The Midwest Loves Lainey and Oliver

Oliver, currently Number 3 in the US, was particularly beloved in Midwestern states for 2023. It punches above its weight in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa.

But the sleeper hit is Lainey, which took the top spot in Neenah, Wisconsin, and was a Top 10 favorite in Sioux City, Iowa, and Marshall, Minnesota. Ranked all the way down at Number 174 in 2022, Lainey could make an astronomic rise in 2023.