Top U.S. baby names of 2021 for the Father's Day Weekend

An early happy Father's Day! As I did last year, I'm celebrating the holiday weekend by blogging about baby names. I begin with Action News Jax (CBS47 & FOX30) reporting the Top baby names of 2021.

Liam and Olivia repeated as the most common baby names in the U.S., and Theodore joined the top 10 for the first time. But apparently, parents of newborns don’t talk about Bruno...

The story continues on the stations' website.

Liam was the top name among newborn boys for the fifth straight year, while Olivia has been No. 1 among girls for three consecutive years.

Liam has been in the top 10 annually since 2012, while Olivia has been in the top 10 every year since 2001.

The only new entry in the top 10 was Theodore, which came in at No. 10. James and William switched places, with James taking over the No. 5 position while William dropped one spot to No. 5.

For boys, Noah remained at No. 2 for the fifth consecutive year. It topped the list for four straight years before being supplanted by Liam in 2017. Before becoming the top name for girls in 2019, Olivia was No. 2 behind Emma for five consecutive years.

And Bruno? The name did improve somewhat, rising from No. 710 in 2020 to No. 664 in 2021.

Here are the rest of the top 20 baby names in the U.S. during 2021 according to the Social Security Administration.


I'll add that Mateo, the name of Jane's son in "Jane the Virgin," continued its rise to fifteenth in 2021 from twentieth in 2020, 26th in 2019, and 37th in 2018. Meanwhile, Jane slipped a bit, falling to 265 after peaking at 261 last year, while Xiomara, the character's grandmother's name, continued gaining in popularity, rising to 551 from 652 in 2019 and 606 in 2020. Considering the show ended its run on the CW in 2019, these names serve as testament to its continued popularity.

Entertainment played a role in the top five fastest rising boys and girls names in 2021.


The most obvious example of entertainment influencing rising names is Raya, the title character of "Raya and the Last Dragon." "Encanto" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film, but Raya won the hearts and minds of parents last year.

I'll return with a celebration of Juneteenth tomorrow. In the meantime, read The Boom-Bust Cycle of Baby Names and Dog Breeds from Vice to understand more about how, why, and when baby names become popular and then fade away.