The Official 2022 List Of Top Baby Names Just Dropped
There's a brand new girl's name in the top 10, and a popular television show is making baby name waves.
Forget Mother’s Day. Forget Christmas. It’s the best holiday of the year: The day that the Social Security Administration (SSA) releases all of the baby name information from the previous year! Happy SSA Baby Name Day!
There is so much data to wade through in the top 2022 baby name list, but don’t worry, the SSA pulled some highlights. Let’s get started.
First and foremost: Liam and Olivia still reign as top boy and girl name in the United States, respectively. It’s the sixth year that Liam is number one and the fourth year that Olivia is number one, and, yawn, honestly. Do you really want your son to be called “Liam K.” or whatever for the rest of their lives? Take it from a Sarah born in 1981, don’t do it!
Secondly, the top 10 names have stayed the same with one exciting new difference: the lovely name Luna is new on the list of girls names, coming in at number 10 and unseating Harper, which has sunk to 11. Twenty years ago, in 2003 Luna was barely in the top 1000, at position 890, but it’s been in the top 100 since 2016 and was in 11th place last year. Luna is the Roman goddess of the moon... and the name of Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s daughter.
The other top 10 baby names for girls (in order) are Emma, Charlotte, Amelia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, Mia, Evelyn.
For boys’ names, the top 10 after Liam are Noah, Oliver, James, Elijah, William, Henry, Lucas, Benjamin and Theodore.
The 2022 baby name list is compiled each year based on applications for social security cards in the United States each year.
"Just like your name, Social Security is with you from day one. One of the first things parents do for their newborn is get them a Social Security number. That makes Social Security the ultimate source for the most popular baby names each year!" said Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, in a video announcing the names.
Of course, the top ten names are not nearly as exciting as looking at some of the top movers and shakers — the names that are rising into popularity quickly.
The two single biggest leaps in popularity are due to television (remember when Game of Thrones names like Arya took huge jumps forward a few years back?). Dutton and Kayce are now in the top 1,000 thanks to the wildly popular show Yellowstone.
Dutton, the last name of the Montana rancher family, skyrocketed from nowhere to be the 835th most popular boy’s name. Kayce, the name of one of the show’s main characters, reached the top 1,000 for the first time ever, placing 587. It will be interesting to see if other names on the series, like Rip or Laramie, appear on the list in a year or two.
A few more boy names that are on the move? Chosen has appeared in the top 1000 for the first time ever, while Eithan, an alternate spelling of Ethan, has jumped from the 800s in years past to 500 this year. Khaza also jumped in popularity, according to the SSA.
On the girl’s side, Wrenlee is on the list for the first time, dropping in at 712. Arlet, which means Eagle, has also joined the list at 741. Neriah, which means lamp of god, Georgina, and Amiri also made large jumps.
To do your own digging, you can head to the SSA’s baby name website, which is tons of fun to play with. Check out your name, your kids’ names, your future kids’ names, and more here.
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