2023 Trending Baby Names

Over the years, trending baby names have changed. This year, like previous years, we are seeing an equal amount of traditional and non-traditional names influenced by current movie, music and book trends. Naming your child is the first of many important influences that you

will determine for your child. As a parent, you are considering ideas from many sources, probably including family, friends, naming sites and combinations of existing names. One of the most common ways to make a combination name is to take parts of one name, add it to parts of another name which results with a new name. This technique was used in the Twilight series with the name Renesmee, the result of both grandmother's names Renee and Esme. Other popular combination names are Annalisa (Anna + Lisa), Annabeth (Anna + Beth), Benton (Ben + Tony), Daeland (Dale + Andrew). These are only a few that can help you think about your own combinations.

As found on the Baby Center website, the 15 most popular 2023 girl and boys names are as follows:

Girls Boy

1, Olivia 1. Liam

2. Emma 2. Noah

3. Amelia 3. Oliver

4. Ava 4. Elijah

5. Charlotte 5. Mateo

6. Isabella 6. Lucas

7. Sophia 7. Leo

8. Mia 8. Asher

9. Luna 9. Ethan

10. Lily 10. James

11. Aurora 11. Aiden

12. Harper 12. Luca

13. Gianna 13. Levi

14. Evelyn 14. Ezra

15. Violet 15. Theo

Names are so important in some cultures that they use naming ceremonies to officially assign a name to the baby/child. Naming ceremonies are an interesting addition to our American traditions and like names, the naming ceremonies reflect cultural influences from genealogical country origins. Just like other traditions, a child's name is able to reflect your family's history.

Stay calm. Consider as much as you can. Be thoughtful. Though a name can be changed later on, it is more costly and more red tape to do so. I will end with this. There is a story in our family of an uncle who's official birth certificate was sent in as "J. A." and then later changed to Jack Arnold. The story goes that he was originally named Jack Ass due to an argument between sisters-in-laws, but the attending nurse would not send in the birth certificate as Jack Ass so she erased all the letters but the capitalized J and the capitalized A. What is unique about this situation is that I whole-heartedly believe that names influence your personality and my uncle Jack, was the Jack Ass of our family for most of his life. Again, stay calm. Consider as much as you can. Be thoughtful.