Oh, baby.
I can imagine that child bearing, giving birth and parenting are all extremely difficult jobs to take on. But the task of choosing the single word that will be used to identify your child in the world and among their peers for at least the first 18 years of their life? Now that seems stressful.
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Luckily, there is no shortage of options, whether you’re feeling creative or traditional. And if you’re not sure where to begin, it could help to see what’s trending (if you’re into that sort of thing).
Names.org compiled lists of the predicted top 10 most popular baby boy and girl names for the U.S., and for each individual state, for this year. Here’s what they’re predicting.
Top US baby names
According to their report, names.org combines data from recent births with “user interest” on their site to predict the most popular baby names for the year.
Boy names
For 2022, the list of the predicted top 10 baby boy names did not change much since 2020.
Topping the list is the name Liam, then Noah, Oliver, Elijah and William. These names have held the same positions since at least 2020.
See the entire list of names below.
Girl names
The baby girl names expected to be most popular in 2022 also have not changed much over the years.
Names.org says the most popular names are Olivia, topping the list at No. 1, then Emma, Charlotte, Amelia and Sophia. The latter three have slightly shifted in recent years, but Olivia and Emma have been the top two names since 2020, the data shows.
See the entire list of names below.
Top Michigan baby names
The predicted top baby names in Michigan for 2022 are similar to the national lists, but with a few differences.
Boy names
For the boys, names.org predicts that Liam, Noah and Oliver will be the most popular names in Michigan like they are across the nation. However, the names Theodore and Jack are apparently more popular in Michigan, showing up on our state’s list.
See the entire list of names below.
Girl names
The top baby girl names predicted for 2022 in Michigan are also similar to the national list, with Amelia and Charlotte hanging in the top four. The names Harper and Eleanor, however, are unique to Michigan’s list and don’t appear on the national top 10 list.
See the entire list of names below.
See more data from names.org right here.
Top names throughout history
Each year, the U.S. Social Security Administration records and compiles every single first name reported with a birth and new social security application. The group says that the top names may not have been consistently popular from year-to-year, but have maintained their popularity over the years.
Here are the top U.S. boy names over the last 100 years, from 1921 to 2021:
- James
- Robert
- John
- Michael
- William
- David
- Richard
- Joseph
- Thomas
- Charles
Here are the top U.S. girl names over the last 100 years, from 1921 to 2021:
- Mary
- Patricia
- Jennifer
- Linda
- Elizabeth
- Barbara
- Susan
- Jessica
- Sarah
- Karen
Click here to see the SSA’s list of top 100 boy and girl names for the last century.
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- Cassidy Johncox, ClickOnDetroit data team
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