Most Popular Baby Names of 2017

Lauren Jimeson
Writer, Publicist and Social Media Consultant

What do Queen Latifah, Moana, and LeBron James have in common? All three inspired parents who named their baby this year. BabyCenter released their list of Top 100 Baby Names for 2017 and it looks like parents are taking cues from pop culture when it comes to the inspiration behind naming their baby.

Chance (as in Chance the Rapper) climbed 21 percent on the boys list while Queen (taking inspiration from Queen Latifah) jumped 41 percent on the girls list. Rappers aren't the only ones who parents look to for inspiration. Parents found names they like from basketball players and Disney Princesses. Moana, which is one of the latest Disney films, made a 64 percent leap up the list for girls and LeBron (from LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers) jumped 64 percent. Even his James' daughter's name, Zhuri, is being noticed by parents because it made a huge leap of 81 percent on the list this year.

Millennial and Gen-Z parents aren't only interested in pop-culture when they are searching for the perfect baby name, they are looking at the great outdoors as well. River, Forest, Storm, and Cloud all climbed up the list of popularity this year.

"Young parents have deep respect and concern for the environment. Storms, climate change, and the sheer beauty found in nature are driving a whole new category of popular baby names," says Linda Murray, BabyCenter Global Editor in Chief of BabyCenter.

As for the list of the top 10 names? Those didn't change much from recent years. For the eighth consecutive year, Sophia takes the number one spot on the girls list. Not far behind is Jackson, who tops the spot for boys now for five years.

Amelia is the only new name this year on the top 10 list for girls. While the list looks similar to last year, it also shows that the trend of names ending in “a” isn't going anywhere any time soon. All but one name on the top 10 girls' list ends in an “a.”

New to the top 10 list this year for boys is Grayson and Logan. The trend of boy names ending in a vowel and “n” (-an, -en, -on) continues, as do Biblical names.

When publishing the top baby names list, BabyCenter looks at the names of more than 500,000 babies born in 2017 to parents registered on the BabyCenter website. Take a look at the top 10 most popular names for both boys and girls on the list below.

Top 10 Most Popular Boys Names of 2017

  1. Jackson

  2. Liam

  3. Noah

  4. Aiden

  5. Lucas

  6. Caden

  7. Grayson

  8. Mason

  9. Elijah

  10. Logan

RELATED PREGNANCY TOOL

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By gender:

Girl

Boy

Unisex

By theme:

Cute

Royal

Nature

Mythology

Top 10 Most Popular Girls Names of 2017

  1. Sophia

  2. Olivia

  3. Emma

  4. Ava

  5. Isabella

  6. Mia

  7. Aria

  8. Riley

  9. Zoe

  10. Amelia

If you're one who loves trends, use this list for inspiration when naming your new bundle of joy.


About Lauren Jimeson

Mom of three Harlan (8), Avery (5) and Macks (3), experienced Freelance Writer, Publicist, and Social Media Consultant. Her work has been featured nationally in online, print, and television media. Lauren is passionate about sharing her experiences a...

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