The Top 1,000 Breakdown 2021
Last week the Social Security Administration released the name date for 2021 and there’s a lot to unpack!
The Top 10
As predicted, Liam and Olivia reign supreme taking the number one names in the United States for the third year running. While the majority of the top ten has remained the same, there was one newcomer on the boys side that surprised us all. Theodore entered the top ten for the very first time in history. He moved up 13 spots from #23 to #10 replacing Alexander who dropped down three spots.
Mini Moniker Theo is on the rise too, going from #172 to #142 and on the girls side Theodora jumped from #831 to #734.
While Liam and Olivia look like the remaining king and queen of baby naming, if we look at all the spelling variations together Olivia gets the boot as Sophia takes her place. Adeline and Aria would also replace Mia and Harper by following this rule.
Liam still holds strong at number one but runner up Noah would evidently be replaced by Jackson. Aiden and Grayson would also be in the new top ten replacing Benjamin and Henry.
The Official Top Ten Boys - 2021
Liam
Noah
Oliver
Elijah
James
William
Benjamin
Lucas
Henry
Theodore
The Official Top 10 Girls - 2021
Olivia
Emma
Sophia
Amelia
Ava
Sophia
Isabelle
Mia
Evelyn
Harper
New To The Top 100
Six names debuted to the top 100 Four boys - Waylon (#69) Bennett (#90), Beau (#94) and Weston (#95) and two girls Rylee (#97) and Athena (#98) replacing Samantha and Brielle.
What’s Trending?
As number one names remain repetitive, so do most frequently used letters. For the girls, the most popular names begin with A and for boys the most popular letter is J. Amelia, Ava and James lead this trend within the top ten. Rounding out the top 100 includes, Abigail, Avery, Aria, Aurora, Addison, Audrey, Aaliyah, Alice, Aubrey, Autumn, Allison, Anna, Ariana, Adeline and Athena on the girls side. Rounding out the top 100 for boys includes, Jack, Jackson, Jacob, John, Joseph, Julian, Jayden, Josiah, Jaxon, Joshua, Jonathan, Jameson, Jeremiah, Jordan and Jose. The pattern speaks for itself.
Names ending in N including Sebastian, Julian, Hudson, Lincoln and Roman have all been highly trending. There are 50 boys names ending in the top 200 alone.
Occupational names, especially those ending in -ER are also on the rise. Archer, Baker, Bridger, Bridger, Cooper, Ledger, Spencer, Thatcher and Tucker have all moved up the charts; and two occupation names made their debut - Granger and Turner.
Pop Culture Effect
Bridgerton and Euphoria were two of the most watched shows in 2021 and these television dramas influenced a dramatic change in the baby name world.
Euphoria characters names, Faye, Gia and Rue all increased in popularity. As did Zendaya, inspired by the leading actress. The name Euphoria itself made its debut to the charts! 19 girls were named Euphoria in 2021. Bennett has also been trending not only for boys, but for girls as well.
Bridgerton had a similar effect on the charts. Darling Daphne rose 126 spots from #414 to #288. The other Bridgerton sisters, Eloise, Francesca and Hyacinth all saw an increase as well. As did brother Benedict, entering the top 100. The name Bridger even rose over 200 spots, going from #929 to #721.
Disney’s and Pixar placed a vital role in the baby name universe making the biggest strides of the year. The fastest rising girls name in 2021 was Raya. Influenced by the Disney film Raya and the Last Dragon.
Luca also boosted an already popular name breaking into the top 50. Soul, another Pixar movie rose for both genders. And let’s talk about Bruno! The movie Encanto was released in 2021 and it definitely made Bruno a household name. Bruno rose spots from #710 to #664 and is expected to increase significantly next year too.
Making Great Strides
Many names within the top 100 have increased significantly or debuted higher than anticipated. Here are 25 trending names that have all increased in popularity from 2020 to 2021.
Ambrose jumped from #819 to #671
Atticus jumped from #300 to #266
August jumped from #155 to #121 for boys and from #855 to #843 for girls
Banks jumped from #753 to #503
Briggs jumped from #438 to #372
Denver jumped from #526 to #505 for boys and from #896 to #776 for girls
Everest jumped from #984 to #903
Felix jumped from #225 to #193
Flora jumped from #925 to #647
Freya jumped from #178 to #152
Lennon jumped from # 690 to #670 for boys and from#299 to #236 for girls
Maeve jumped from #173 to #124
Miller jumped from #696 to #591
Murphy is not in the top 1,000 for boys but jumped from #978 to #716 for girls
Navy remains unranked for boys but jumped from #660 to #452 for girls
Ocean jumped from #797 to #711 for boys and debuted for the first time ever for girls at #877
Ophelia jumped from #390 to #321
Onyx jumped from #613 to #406 for boys
Ozzy doubled in popularity debuting in the top 1,000 for the first time ever at #712
Persephone jumped from #822 to #778
Salem jumped from #806 to #718 for boys and from #608 to #506 for girls
Silas jumped from #100 to #91
Stevie jumped from #404 to #284 for girls
Sutton jumped from #323 to #244
Sylvie jumped from #770 to #586
1921 vs 2021 - Top 100
Sometimes names come back in style a whole century later. We call it the 100 year rule. There is an even split of 19 boys names and 19 girls names, 38 names total that placed in the top 100 in both 1921 and 2021.
Boys names in the top 100 in both 1921 & 2021
Andrew
Anthony
Benjamin
Charles
Daniel
David
Everett
Henry
Jack
James
John
Joseph
Leo
Michael
Robert
Samuel
Theodore
Thomas
William
Girls names in the top 100 in both 1921 & 2021
Alice
Anna
Audrey
Charlotte
Eleanor
Ella
Elizabeth
Emma
Eva
Evelyn
Grace
Hazel
Josephine
Lillian
Lucy
Ruby
Sarah
Stella
Violet
New To The Top 1000
This year 36 girls names and 41 boys names debuted in or returned to the top 1000.
In order of popularity the newcomers on the girls side include, Jaylani, Nyra, Clover, Angelique, Ocean, Elia, Goldie, Birdie, Baylor, Indigo, Austyn, Dalia, Salma, Zayla, Billie, India, Taytum, Arleth, Emberlynn, Guinevere, Aarna, Aiyana, Kahlani, Jaylene, Loyalty, Azaria, Micah, Kathleen, Soraya, Arlette, Vida, Ryder, Tatiana, Eleanora, Sandra and Soleil.
Newcomers on the boys side include, Ozzy, Eliam, Loyal, Amiri, Evander, Kylian, Jiraiya, Elio, Alfonso, Mustafa, Avyaan, Jesiah, Azriel, Jakai, Zyon, Howard, Turner, Azael, Bowie, Elon, Granger, Yisroel, Gian, Yaakov, Adrien, Kartier, Cassian, Coleson, Agustin, Wylder, Yadiel, Ephraim, Neo, Ignacio, Osman, Dimitri, Khai, Palmer, Benedict, Koen and Atharv.
Are there any names from the top 1,000 that surprised you? Let us know what you thought of this years SSA list.