The *Real* Top Baby Names of 2020

Drumroll please... 🥁

I told my friends and family not to call me on the Friday before Mother’s Day.

Data drop day, naturally, is my busiest workday of the year, and I was not going to be bothered.

And I *was* busy — analyzing how celebrities are influencing name trends, among other things — but I also spent a good hour hitting control-f and searching all my favorite baby names to make sure they weren’t getting too popular (this quote rings true).

Okay, phew

So phone calls were banned, but I did, however, allow texts messages:

In the days before the data drop, I had been telling everyone that we were definitely going to see enough little Coronas to break the charts’ five-baby threshold. It would make sense, right? Babies are sometimes named after world events, and at least Corona is an actual name (it last charted in 1928!) 👑

But to my surprise — no Coronas! (There may have been up to four — we’ll never know for sure). There weren’t any baby Covids either, but seven baby boys were named Kovid.

Luckily, there were plenty of other fascinating debuts. I kept a list of the most interesting (relatively) recent additions to the extended charts as I combed through:

I totally called Evermore

I love a good fruit name, so welcome to you, Acai and Yuzu. I’m not so sold on Phox 🦊

The Real Top 50 Baby Names

Clearly, my interest lies in rare names, but I do like to trawl the top of the charts as well. Except the data can be deceiving — sure, Olivia and Liam are the most popular names in isolation, but what if you consider names that can be spelled three or five or 14 different ways? (Hint: you get a whole new set of popular baby names).

Thankfully, Nameberry friend Kelli Brady calculates the Playground Analysis for us each year. The 2020 results are in and the *real* top baby names, ordered by sound, are…Sophia and Jackson (again).

At this point, I’m tired of seeing my legal name at the top of the charts, but fresh blood in the PA Top 50 like Alaia, Hazel, Asher, and Luca are exciting additions.

More fun things

• The top baby names in each state 🇺🇸

• Clare’s got the deets on Aussie name statistics 🐨

• Macklemore, can I pick your baby’s name? 🤞🏼

• Sometimes I’m surprised by the names I have to add to the database 🐓