The most popular baby names of 2021 feature a new girl name at the top of the list, and no one is more surprised than the name counters themselves.
Eloise came from behind to beat out three goddess names, Aurelia, Luna, and Maeve, that competed for the top spot all year. Meanwhile, Eloise steadily amassed enough page views to become the new Number 1 girls’ name of 2021.
There’s a new top boy name for 2021 too, but that’s less of a surprise. Arlo has dominated the list of popular boy names all year, taking over from Milo, the top boys’ name of 2020.
Eloise, a French name meaning healthy or wide, is best-known as the name of the mischievous little girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel in the eponymous children’s book. Arlo is a multicultural name whose best definition is “between two hills.”
Rose, Esme and Imogen are new to the girls’ Top 10 in 2021, replacing Luna, Isla, and national favorite Olivia.
Boy names new to the Top 10 are Kai, Rowan, Finn and Soren, replacing Asher, Leo, Oliver, and Jasper.
Nameberry’s popular names list gauges which names attracted the most attention from the site’s visitors over the year. Rather than a measure of how many babies received each name, it’s a predictor of which names parents are most likely to choose in the future.
Think of it as a look inside the collective baby name brain. Which names are people most fascinated by, interested in, attracted to? Those names don’t show up on last year’s statistics, they become the popular names of the future.
Nameberry’s popularity list is most useful for parents who want to make sure their secret favorite name does not turn out to be everybody’s secret favorite name. Parents might be justified in thinking that a name like Imogen, not even on the national Top 1000, is rare. But when it shows up on Nameberry’s Top 10, that’s advance notice that it might be the Jennifer of tomorrow.
Top 100 Baby Names 2021
Looking at the entire list of most popular baby names for 2021, there are 15 new girl names and 19 new boy names among the Top 100.
Girl names new to the Top 100 in 2021 are Ottilie, Juniper, Cecilia, Willow, Ruby, Kaia, Esther, Saoirse, Alexandra, Sage, Lila, Millie, Margot, Avery, and Flora. Ottilie is the highest-ranking new entrant to the popular names list at Number 25, inspired by influencer Zoe Sugg’s daughter Ottilie Rue.
Boy names new (or returning) to Top 100 in 2021 are August, Danger, Noah, Elliot, Kieran, Nico, River, Remy, Cosmo, Ellis, Ari, Rory, Knox, Simon, Aurelius, Beau, Dylan, Kit, and Jonah. August is the highest-ranking new entry among boy names at Number 11, inspired by Princess Eugenie’s son August Philip Hawke along with Mandy Moore’s August Harrison, both born in February.
Names that begin with El- are among the biggest winners and losers in Nameberry’s name popularity contest. Along with Eloise, other El- names winning favor with the site’s visitors are Elias and Elio for boys, Elodie for girls. El- names losing ground are Elena, Ellie, Eli, and Elijah, which all dropped 25 or more places, while Ella, Elise, and Eliana fell off the Top 100 completely.
Other big winners among boy names are Orion, Luca, Caspian, and Rhys. Girl names Daphne, Sienna, Wren, Stella, and Imogen all vaulted up the list.
How does the Nameberry list of popular names compare with the official US Top 100? Sixty percent of Nameberry’s top baby names 2021 do not appear on the Social Security Popular Names list for 2020, the most recent year counted.
Historically, Nameberry’s top names are ahead of the curve, showing up on the national Top 100 four or five years later. Those names you’re destined to hear a lot more of are Ottilie, Seraphina, Imogen, Flora, Persephone, Florence, Saoirse, and Elodie.
For boys, names destined for future popularity include Danger, Lucifer, Cosmo, Aurelius, Kit, Lucius, Elio, Cassian, Ambrose, and Magnus.
Here are the full lists of top baby names of 2021.
Top 100 Girl Names 2021
1. Eloise
2. Aurelia
3. Ava
4. Rose
5. Maeve
6. Esme
7. Eleanor
8. Imogen
9. Aurora
10. Ophelia
11. Freya
12. Luna
13. Alice
14. Iris
15. Ivy
16. Isla
17. Olivia
18. Hazel
19. Astrid
20. Amelia
21. Genevieve
22. Charlotte
23. Aria
24. Elodie
25. Violet
26. Sienna
27. Cora
28. Nora
29. Ottilie
30. Daphne
31. Evelyn
32. Clara
33. Ada
34. Maya
35. Beatrice
36. Amara
37. Adelaide
38. Arabella
39. Phoebe
40. Penelope
41. Stella
42. Wren
43. Josephine
44. Mia
45. Grace
46. Lyra
47. Cordelia
48. Lilith
49. Maisie
50. Anastasia
51. Evangeline
52. Mae
53. Lucy
54. Clementine
55. Mabel
56. Quinn
57. Nova
58. Florence
59. Adeline
60. Juniper
61. Chloe
62. Athena
63. Cecilia
64. Audrey
65. Seraphina
66. Willow
67. Thea
68. Claire
69. Matilda
70. Poppy
71. Eliza
72. Elsie
73. Elizabeth
74. Delilah
75. Elena
76. Anna
77. Persephone
78. Zara
79. Celeste
80. Lily
81. Ruby
82. Eva
83. Kaia
84. Esther
85. Willa
86. Jane
87. Saoirse
88. Alexandra
89. Sage
90. Daisy
91. Lila
92. Millie
93. Ayla
94. Julia
95. Margot
96. Lydia
97. Avery
98. Ellie
99. Flora
100. Evie
Top 100 Boy Names 2021
1. Arlo
2. Kai
3. Atticus
4. Silas
5. Theodore
6. Rowan
7. Finn
8. Milo
9. Felix
10. Soren
11. August
12. Ezra
13. Jude
14. Asher
15. Leo
16. Cassius
17. Oscar
18. Hugo
19. Jasper
20. Atlas
21. Theo
22. Henry
23. Oliver
24. Caleb
25. Caspian
26. Arthur
27. James
28. Danger
29. Sebastian
30. Luca
31. Orion
32. Owen
33. Emmett
34. Jack
35. Levi
36. Otto
37. Ethan
38. Miles
39. Enzo
40. Noah
41. Tobias
42. Elliot
43. Lucas
44. Xavier
45. Elias
46. Thomas
47. Otis
48. Kieran
49. Phoenix
50. Elio
51. Nico
52. Rhys
53. Josiah
54. Cyrus
55. Zachary
56. River
57. Nathaniel
58. Ronan
59. Max
60. Mateo
61. Everett
62. Wyatt
63. Archer
64. Remy
65. Cosmo
66. Ellis
67. Callum
68. Bodhi
69. Liam
70. Magnus
71. Elijah
72. Ari
73. Jacob
74. Louis
75. William
76. Lucian
77. Rory
78. Jayden
79. Knox
80. Ambrose
81. Gideon
82. Eli
83. Julian
84. Roman
85. Simon
86. Sawyer
87. Cassian
88. Ezekiel
89. Aurelius
90. Alexander
91. Micah
92. Lucifer
93. Isaac
94. Beau
95. Lucius
96. Lachlan
97. Dylan
98. Archie
99. Kit
100. Jonah