Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his May 23rd column, he looks at the Social Security Administration’s Releases fro Top Baby Names in 2020.
Jackson and Sophia won again during the pandemic, though other tragedies hugely impacted baby names last year.
May 7 the Social Security Administration released the United States’ top baby names of 2020.
On SSA’s lists, Liam and Olivia rank first, as they did in 2019.
SSA counts every spelling separately. I add together spellings pronounced the same, creating lists I believe more accurately indicate popularity.
When boys named Jaxon, Jaxson, Jakson, etc., are added to Jackson, 20,213 were born in 2020, ranking it first for the eighth year in a row.
The rest of 2020’s Top 10 for boys were Liam, Noah, Aiden, Oliver, Elijah, Lucas, Grayson, William and James — the same 10 as last year, though Oliver moved up two places.
Kayson was the boy’s name among the Top 100 with the biggest increase, rising from 96th to 62nd. Though Kayson is the top spelling, it was only 19% of the total, which included Kason, Kaison, Kasen, Cason, etc. Blending the sounds of Mason and Grayson with Kayden, Kayson has become the perfect “different but not too different” choice for thousands of parents.
When Sofia and other spellings are added, 20,014 Sophias arrived in 2020. Sophia has been No. 1 since 2011. The rest of the girls’ Top 10 are Olivia, Emma, Ava, Isabella, Amelia, Charlotte, Mia, Camila and Riley.