The story so far: 2018’s most popular baby names
We posted BabyCenter’s most popular UK baby names of 2018 mid-year list recently, but now baby name oracle Nameberry have weighed in on America’s favourite monikers too. Praise be!
Things are getting interesting
“The most popular names on Nameberry for the first half of 2018 are led by the two names that held the top spots at the end of 2017, Olivia and Atticus,” Nameberry reports.
“In second place, though, things get really interesting. Amara, the multicultural girls’ name with roots in three continents, leapt onto the Top 10 for the full year 2018, and now is all the way up at Number 2 for girls.”
Names like Charlotte, Oliver and Olivia ranked highly across the board, but the US snuck in some brilliant choices that didn’t appear on the other Top 10 lists (hello Milo, Amara, Atticus and Cora!)
US mums and dads showed a real penchant for historic and literary girls’ names. Florence, Cordelia and Anastasia, for instance. In the boys’ department, short and/or strong names ranked highly. We’re talking Otis, Otto, Owen and Caspian.
Same, same but different
We thought we’d cross-check the UK and US faves with Australia’s most popular baby names – and the results were really interesting.
There were lots of similarities, but some stark differences in choices between regions too.
Take a look for yourself …
The 20 most popular girls’ names of 2018 (so far!)
| Rank | Australia | US | UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlotte | Olivia | Olivia |
| 2 | Olivia | Amara | Sophia |
| 3 | Ava | Cora | Amelia |
| 4 | Amelia | Isla | Lily |
| 5 | Mia | Charlotte | Emily |
| 6 | Isla | Aurora | Ava |
| 7 | Grace | Amelia | Isla |
| 8 | Ella | Rose | Aria |
| 9 | Chloe | Ava | Mia |
| 10 | Harper | Genevieve | Isabella |
The 20 most popular boys’ names of 2018 (so far!)
| Rank | Australia | US | UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oliver | Atticus | Muhammed |
| 2 | William | Milo | Oliver |
| 3 | Jack | Jasper | Noah |
| 4 | Noah | Jack | George |
| 5 | Thomas | Asher | Harry |
| 6 | James | Silas | Leo |
| 7 | Lucas | Theodore | Charlie |
| 8 | Henry | Wyatt | Jack |
| 9 | Ethan | Henry | Freddie |
| 10 | Charlie | Declan | Alfie |
You can see Nameberry’s full list of the Top 100 names for boys AND girls here – and read a little more about the trends it has revealed.
Read more about baby names:
- 50 brilliant baby names inspired by fairy tales and fables
- Mum shares “dumbest” names from her son’s school and has she got a point?
- The most popular baby names of the 1910’s are also perfect for modern babies
