Olivia and Liam were the most popular baby names in 2021 for girls and boys respectively, continuing a three-year trend since 2019.
“Once again, during this unprecedented time, parents chose to stick with familiar names,” the Social Security Administration said in a press statement accompanying a chart of last year’s most popular baby names. “Liam has been the top choice for new parents for five years in a row, and Olivia has topped the list for three years.”
Social Security found that only one name changed on either top 10 list: the boy’s name Theodore in 2021 replaced Alexander from 2020, making its first appearance on the list.
Liam was followed by Noah, Oliver, Elijah and James as the top five most popular boys’ names in 2021, while Olivia was followed by Emma, Charlotte, Amelia and Ava as the top five girls’ names.
Social Security began tracking the popularity of baby names each year in 1997.
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The department also tracks the fastest rising baby names each year, which were led in 2021 by Amiri for boys and Raya for girls.
Amiri was followed by Eliam, Colter, Ozzy and Loyal as the top five fastest rising boys’ names, while Raya was followed by Wrenley, Angelique, Vida and Emberlynn as the top five for girls.
Parents provide information to the Social Security Administration when a child is born to get the child a Social Security number, supplying the agency with accurate information including names to reliably track over time. The agency also provides a database enabling people to search for names and view their popularity over time.