This release was issued under a previous government.

In 2017, Alberta welcomed 53,539 babies into the world – 27,599 boys, and 25,835 girls. Emma, Charlotte, Ava and Sophia remain popular choices for girls’ names, while Liam, Benjamin, Logan and Lucas round out the top five names for boys.

“Congratulations to all the parents who welcomed children in 2017. What I hear from Albertans is that as these children grow up, it’s so important that they have our constant support. From affordable child care and enhanced child and family benefits to school nutrition programs and lower school fees, we are making practical changes to help families and children thrive.”

Brian Malkinson, Minister of Service Alberta

In 2017, Service Alberta recorded 13,899 different baby names, with many reflecting names of characters found in popular movies and television shows, such as Tyrion, Daenerys, Kylo, Leia, Thor, Katniss and Eleven.

Some names appeared to reference mythology and literature, including Zeus, Persephone, Tolkien, Odyssey and Beowulf, while others seemed to be inspired by traits or feelings such as Charisma, Fancy, Liberty and Happiness.

Albertans can look up more than 95,000 names dating back to 1980 through the Alberta Baby Names App, available to download for free on iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

Baby names statistics are recorded by the Vital Statistics branch of Service Alberta, and are based on the registration and notice of birth information. A complete list of names is available on the Open Government Portal.

Background

  • Some notable changes in 2017 include:
    • With its top placement, Noah ends the four-year streak of Olivia as the top overall baby name in the province.
      It also ends the seven-year streak of Liam as the top boys’ name.
    • There are 12 names on the girls’ Top 10 list, as there were two sets of ties noted. Ava and Sophia tied for fourth place, while Aria and Chloe tied for ninth place.
    • 2017 topped 2016 for number of original names registered (13,899 compared to 13,782 last year).
  • 2015 continues to be the record-holding year in Alberta for number of babies born (56,744) and number of original baby names registered (13,965).

Alberta’s top baby boy names

(In brackets is the number of children with each name)

Place

Boy Names (2017)

Boy Names (2016

Boy Names (2015)

1

Noah (250)

Liam (277)

Liam (301)

2

Liam (244)

Benjamin (252)

Noah (256)

3

Benjamin (229)

Lucas (247)

Ethan (233)

4

Logan (226)

Oliver (230)

Benjamin (221)

5

Lucas (216)

Noah (228)

Lucas (218)

6

William (213)

William (213)

William (217)

7

Ethan (192)

Ethan (205)

Oliver (209)

8

Oliver (190)

Jack (197)

Mason (203)

9

Jack (189)

Lincoln (192)

Logan (196)

10

Jacob (178)

Owen (189)

Alexander (193)

Alberta’s top baby girl names

(In brackets is the number of children with each name)

Place

Girl Names (2017)

Girl Names (2016)

Girl Names (2015)

1

Olivia (236)

Olivia (292)

Olivia (293)

2

Emma (215)

Emma (249)

Emma (275)

3

Charlotte (187)

Sophia (215)

Emily (252)

4

Ava (184)

Sophia (184)

Ava (207)

Sophia (205)

5

Emily (159)

Emily (187)

Ava (201)

6

Abigail (154)

Charlotte (180)

Chloe (179)

7

Amelia (149)

Amelia (172)

Ella (167); Abigail (167)

8

Isabella (141)

Abigail (171)

Avery (155)

9

Aria (129)

Chloe (129)

Chloe (166)

Amelia (142)

10

Lily (127)

Aria (137)

Charlotte (141)