WELCOME, OLIVIA, NOAH
Top baby names of 2019
With newborns being named Mars and Neptune, some Alberta parents explored the solar system when choosing a name for their offspring last year.
But those choices were light years behind Olivia, a name that’s proven to be far more than a passing trend for Albertans naming their female babies, say provincial officials.
And a relative flood of babies dubbed Noah continues in Alberta, say post-birth statistics.
For the seventh year in a row, Olivia was the top choice for newborn girls in 2019, with 229 newborns given that name.
Noah took top honours among boys last year with the name getting the nod in 275 instances, the second time since 2017 it has topped the list.
Other top boy names in order were Liam, Oliver, Ethan and Jack.
Rounding out the top five among newborn girls were Charlotte, Sophia, Emma and Ava.
But provincial officials say pop culture also inspired some parents, who appear to have used the hyper-popular TV series Game of Thrones to tag their newborns with names like Sansa, Brienne and Khaleesi.
Apparently derived from Middle Earth fantasy franchise Lord of the Rings were baby names Theoden, Eowyn and Arwen.
And Raising Arizona became more than a movie title; the trend continuing of place names being used as baby names, with the list including Memphis, Salem and Jerusalem.
Greek and Roman mythology weighed in with babies dubbed Zeus, Persephone, Apollo, Artemus and Venus.
“It’s a major decision that affects a child for the entirety of his or her life and it’s also fun and exciting,” said Minister of Service Alberta Nate Glubish Monday as he cradled his nine-month-old son Max.
“I want to congratulate all new parents in Alberta and reassure them, as well as Albertans expecting a child in the near future, that we are working every day to make sure your children have a great future in a strong Alberta.”
All the aforementioned names — and about 13,700 others — were used to name the 51,598 babies born in Alberta last year, down from a record 56,744 arrivals in 2015, just as an economic slump was being keenly felt in the province.