Top Trending Baby Names of 2017

Choosing a baby name is one of the first big decisions you’ll make as a parent, and it can feel surprisingly loaded. Are you drawn to something classic and timeless? Keen to follow what’s trending? Torn between honouring a family name and picking something that feels completely your own?

There’s no right answer. Some parents want their child’s name to blend in nicely with their generation, others want it to stand out. Both are perfectly good reasons to choose a name. What matters more is that you and your partner feel genuinely happy with it, because you’ll be saying it, writing it and calling it across a playground for the next eighteen years and beyond.

Naming trends do shift year on year. Around 2017, names like Emma, Olivia and Sophia for girls, and Liam, Noah and Oliver for boys, were sitting near the top of popularity charts in the US and UK. Some of those names are still going strong now, others have faded a bit as newer names have taken their place. If you want the most accurate, up to date picture, it’s worth checking the current lists from your own country’s official records, such as the US Social Security Administration in America or the Office for National Statistics in the UK. Popularity rankings shift every single year, so anything you read (including this article) is a snapshot in time rather than a permanent ranking.

Working Out What Actually Matters To You

Before you get pulled into lists and trends, it helps to sit down with your partner (if you have one) and talk through what you actually want from a name. A few honest questions can save a lot of back-and-forth later:

• Do you want something that’s easy to spell and pronounce, or are you happy to correct people for the rest of your child’s life?
• Does the name work with your surname? Say the full name out loud a few times, including any middle name. Awkward rhymes, repeated sounds or accidental initials (spelling out something unfortunate) are easy to miss on paper.
• How does it shorten? Most names get nicknamed whether you plan for it or not. If you love “Alexander” but can’t stand “Alex” or “Xander”, that’s worth knowing now.
• Does it fit with any siblings’ names, in style and feel, without being too matchy?
• Are you choosing it because you genuinely love it, or because it’s currently popular? Neither is wrong, but it’s worth being honest with yourself.

It’s also worth thinking a little about how common the name might be in your child’s future school class. A name in the current top ten is likely to be shared by several other children born around the same time. That’s not a problem for everyone, but some parents prefer to pick from just outside the top rankings to give their child a bit more distinctiveness.

Family Opinions: Listen, Then Trust Yourselves

Once you start telling people your shortlist, expect opinions, some of them strong ones. Grandparents especially can have firm views, often rooted in family tradition or names from their own generation. It’s fine to listen, and sometimes a relative will flag something you hadn’t thought of, like an unfortunate family nickname attached to a particular name. But you don’t owe anyone a say in the final decision. Many parents now choose to keep their favourite name private until the birth, simply to avoid a chorus of unsolicited feedback during pregnancy.

Girls’ Names That Have Stayed Popular

Names like Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Ava and Isabella have all spent extended periods near the top of US and UK popularity charts over the past decade or so. Charlotte saw a notable jump in popularity too, partly credited to high profile royal and celebrity babies sharing the name, which shows how quickly outside events can shift naming trends.

Alongside these long-standing favourites, a slightly bolder set of names has been climbing steadily:

• Grace
• Harper
• Mia
• Zoey (and its many spelling variations)

Spelling variations are worth a mention on their own. Names like Zoey/Zoe/Zoë or Sophia/Sofia let parents put a personal stamp on a popular name without straying too far from it. Just bear in mind that unusual spellings can mean a lifetime of your child correcting people, spelling their name out over the phone, or seeing it misspelled on certificates and school records. Some families love that individuality, others find it a bit of a headache. It’s worth deciding in advance how much that bothers you.

Boys’ Names On The Move

Some previously dominant boys’ names, including Liam, Mason and William, have moved around in the rankings over recent years as newer names have taken their place at the very top. Names such as Logan, Oliver and Sebastian have been popular choices, alongside steady favourites like Jack, Noah and Luke.

Boys’ naming trends tend to move a little more slowly than girls’, with classic and biblical names holding their popularity for longer stretches. That said, plenty of parents are now looking beyond the top charts entirely, choosing surname-style first names, nature names, or family names passed down through generations, in an effort to give their son something a bit less common.

A Few Practical Things To Check Before You Decide

It’s easy to fall in love with a name and forget the practical side. A few quick checks can save headaches later:

• Search the name online to see what comes up, so you know what your child might find when they search their own name one day.
• Check it isn’t already very common among close friends’ or family members’ children.
• Think about how it reads on official paperwork like passports and school forms, particularly if you’re using an unusual spelling or a very long name.
• If the meaning of the name matters to you, double check it from a reliable source rather than a random name website, as meanings quoted online aren’t always accurate.

Give yourself proper time to sit with your shortlist. Plenty of parents change their mind once or twice before the birth, and that’s completely normal. Whatever name you land on, it will belong to your child in a way that no ranking or trend list ever really captures, and that’s the part that matters most.