Kindergarten teachers, prepare for a big influx of unfamiliar names in 2022. New names ruled the day on Nameberry's Top 100 baby-name list for 2017.
The list measures which names attract the largest share of the site’s nearly 250 million page views, versus how many babies actually receive that name. It’s a gauge of parents’ interest in baby names, and a predictor of which names will become more popular in the future.
As we noted in another article, Atticus leapt to No. 1 on the boys' list, and Olivia held down the No. 1 spot for girls.
Three new names vaulted onto the Top Ten this year for each gender: Cora, Maia, and Amara for girls, and Theodore, Jasper, and Henry for boys. Maia is the most surprising newcomer to the group, also new to the Nameberry Top 100 and among the US Top 1000 baby names for only a decade.
New entrants besides Maia on the girls’ side are Rumi, the name of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s baby daughter, along with Alexandra, Allegro, Brielle, Celeste, and Elena.
There are more than twice as many new names on the boys’ Top 100. They are:
- Adam
- Augustus
- Caspian
- Charlie
- Dante
- Edward
- Emmett
- Everett
- Ian
- Jonathan
- Kane
- Kian
- Magnus
- Maverick
- Rhett
- Winston
- Xander
The girls' names vaulting furthest up the list in 2017 are Evelyn, Amara, Naomi, Ada, and Phoebe, all up more than 20 places.
For boys, names that rose 20 or more places are Leo, Harvey, Kai, Liam, Arthur, Cassius, George, Finn, Ryker, Louis, Harry, and Jude.
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Names with ties to mythology, ancient cultures, and classic literature, influences that topped our baby name trend predictions for 2017, dominate the list.
Atticus qualifies on two counts. It’s the name of a Roman literary figure as well as the first name of the hero of Harper Lee’s beloved novel "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Number 2 girls’ name Cora has mythological roots — it’s another name for Persephone, goddess of fertility and the underworld — and is also the first name of the heroine of the classic American novel "Last of the Mohicans." Maia is the Greek mother of Hermes and the Roman goddess of spring. Rumi is the name of an ancient Muslim (male) poet, and Phoebe is another name for the goddess of the moon and also figures in the New Testament, William Shakespeare's work, and "Catcher in the Rye."
On the boys’ side, Silas relates to the Roman god of trees, Augustus is the name of a Roman emperor, and Magnus is a royal appellation meaning “greatest.” Caspian is a name from "The Chronicles of Narnia" and Dante was a medieval poet.
Other mythological and literary names on the rise include Ophelia, Freya, and Esme for girls; Cassius, Axel, and Felix for boys.
With 5 million monthly visitors from around the globe, Nameberry is the world’s largest baby name site.
Here are the top 100 names for girls in 2017:
- Olivia
- Cora
- Amelia
- Charlotte
- Isla
- Isabella
- Maia
- Aurora
- Amara
- Ava
- Rumi
- Penelope
- Evelyn
- Ophelia
- Rose
- Eleanor
- Violet
- Luna
- Arabella
- Hazel
- Imogen
- Esme
- Maeve
- Elizabeth
- Alice
- Audrey
- Adeline
- Genevieve
- Aurelia
- Thea
- Khaleesi
- Lucy
- Ivy
- Jane
- Emma
- Mia
- Eloise
- Claire
- Emilia
- Nora
- Iris
- Lydia
- Anna
- Astrid
- Lila
- Julia
- Sadie
- Elise
- Stella
- Isabel
- Scarlett
- Ada
- Evangeline
- Caroline
- Eliza
- Adelaide
- Matilda
- Aria
- Naomi
- Clara
- Phoebe
- Chloe
- Elodie
- Josephine
- Brielle
- Sienna
- Beatrice
- Molly
- Ella
- Mae
- Mila
- Allegro
- Hannah
- Celeste
- Seraphina
- Zoe
- Freya
- Sophia
- Maisie
- Gemma
- Willow
- Poppy
- Grace
- Margaret
- Madeline
- Emily
- Elena
- Daisy
- Maya
- Elsie
- Juliet
- Willa
- Ellie
- Jade
- Eliana
- Rebecca
- Zara
- Alexandra
- Evie
- Abigail
And here are 2017's top 100 names for boys:
- Atticus
- Asher
- Jack
- Theodore
- Jasper
- Milo
- Oliver
- Silas
- Henry
- Wyatt
- Leo
- Oscar
- Declan
- Xavier
- Felix
- Levi
- Finn
- Matthew
- Thomas
- Axel
- Sebastian
- Arthur
- Bodhi
- Alexander
- Kai
- Ethan
- Julian
- Benjamin
- William
- Cale
- Zachary
- Aryan
- Liam
- Miles
- Elijah
- James
- Callum
- John
- Soren
- Charle
- Tobias
- Harvey
- Andrew
- Roman
- Eli
- Harry
- Harrison
- Ronan
- Ryker
- Ezra
- Nathaniel
- Cassius
- Jacob
- Jude
- Charlie
- Dante
- Isaac
- George
- Archer
- Samuel
- Lachlan
- Hugo
- Luke
- Magnus
- Isaiah
- Rhett
- Daniel
- Jonathan
- Gideon
- Lucas
- Graham
- Owen
- Wesley
- Louis
- Maverick
- Josiah
- Lucian
- Joseph
- Lewis
- Augustus
- Simon
- Gabriel
- Everett
- Kian
- Vincent
- Xander
- Kane
- Nolan
- Griffin
- David
- Emmett
- Ian
- Adam
- Caspian
- Nathan
- Winston
- Beckett
- Nicholas
- Edward
- Knox