Top Baby Names 2023: The Playground Analysis

The Social Security Administration recently released the most popular baby names in the US: Olivia and Liam… again. But if you feel like you hear other names more often, well, it's because you do.

The baby name data released each year by the SSA lists variant spellings like Layla and Leila, Grayson and Greyson as totally separate names — which can impact their official position on the charts.

The Playground Analysis groups the names from the official US popularity charts according to their sound and then ranks the groups instead of the individual spellings. Listing the various spellings together gives us a more accurate view of what the top names are in the country.

So, when all variants are combined, these are the girl and boy names you are actually likely to hear most often on the playground!

Top Girl Names 2023

Sophia remains on top another year! In fact, the entire Top 4 remains unchanged between 2022 and 2023: Amelia, Olivia, and Emma are ranked 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

There was a bit of shuffling around in the rest of the Top 10. Charlotte switched places with Isabella to rank #5 and #6, respectively, Mia jumped two spots to #7, Adeline fell one spot to #8, and Aria moved up one spot to #9.

Evelyn entered the Top 10 by jumping two spots to #10. Ava fell out of the Top 10 — dropping from #8 to #12.

Within the Top 50, big movers up are Kehlani (#45 to #34) and Ellie (#46 to #35). The biggest movers down are Everly (#24 to #39) and Abigail (#36 to #44).

Three names have risen into the PA Top 50: Ivy (#56 to #47), Alaia (#52 to #48), and Emery (#53 to #49).

Meanwhile, three names fell out of the Top 50: Hannah (#48 to #53), Leilani (#47 to #54), and Grace (#49 to #56).

See the Top 50 most popular girl names 2023, according to our Playground Analysis, below.

NB: Names are given in their most popular form, together with their SSA rankings and total combined births, plus the most common variant spellings.

All spellings given to five or more babies are included in the figures, but I have only listed those with 50 or more births due to length. For example, Sophia has 11 alternate spellings used in 2023, but only 3 are listed here.

Playground Analysis Top 50 Girl Names

#1 Sophia

(5) — 19725 births — Sofia, Sofiya

#2 Amelia

(4) — 18100 births — Emilia, Emelia, Amilia

#3 Olivia

(1) — 16362 births — Alivia, Alyvia

#4 Emma

(2) — 13690 births — Ema

#5 Charlotte

(3) — 12724 births — Charlette

#6 Isabella

(7) — 12118 births — Izabella, Isabela, Izzabella

#7 Mia

(6) — 11857 births — Miah, Miya

#8 Adeline

(71) — 11757 births — Adalynn, Adaline, Adalyn, Adelyn, Adelynn, Addilyn, Addilynn, Adilene, Addalyn, Adilynn, Addelyn, Addalynn, Adelyne, Adilyn, Adalynne, Adelin, Adalyne

#9 Aria

(24) — 10740 births — Arya, Ariyah, Ariah, Ariya, Aarya, Aryah

#10 Evelyn

(9) — 10674 births — Evelynn, Evalyn, Evalynn, Evelin

#11 Camila

(13) — 10216 births — Kamila, Camilla, Kamilah, Kamilla, Kamyla

#12 Ava

(8) — 10151 births — Avah, Ayva, Ayvah

#13 Eliana

(34) — 10131 births — Elliana, Elianna, Ellianna, Eliyanah, Elyana, Elyanna, Ellyana, Eliyana, Eleana

#14 Isla

(33) — 10123 births — Ayla, Iyla, Ila, Aila, Aylah, Eila, Iylah, Aayla, Aiyla, Islah, Ilah

#15 Madelyn

(58) — 9805 births — Madeline, Madilyn, Madeleine, Madelynn, Madilynn, Madalyn, Madalynn, Madelin, Madelyne

#16 Zoe

(37) — 9550 births — Zoey, Zoie

#17 Layla

(30) — 9194 births — Leila, Laila, Leyla, Laylah, Lailah, Leilah, Leylah

#18 Riley

(43) — 9118 births — Rylee, Ryleigh, Rylie, Rhylee, Rilee, Reilly

#19 Elena

(47) — 8878 births — Alaina, Elaina, Alayna, Alena, Aleyna, Elayna, Ellena

#20 Lily

(20) — 7912 births — Lilly, Lillie, Lili

#21 Luna

(10) — 7872 births

#22 Harper

(11) — 7769 births

#23 Chloe

(26) — 7596 births — Khloe, Cloe

#24 Emily

(18) — 7571 births — Emely, Emilie, Emilee, Emmalee

#25 Nora

(25) — 7482 births — Norah

#26 Eleanor

(14) — 7571 births — Elinor, Elanor, Eleanore

#27 Scarlett

(17) — 7353 births — Scarlet, Scarlette, Skarlett

#28 Gianna

(21) — 6988 births — Giana, Jianna, Jiana

#29 Avery

(29) — 6885 births — Averie, Averi, Avarie

#30 Elizabeth

(15) — 6856 births — Elisabeth

#31 Violet

(16) — 6746 births — Violette, Violett

#32 Madison

(36) — 6369 births — Maddison, Madisyn, Madisson, Madyson

#33 Aaliyah

(86) — 6341 births — Aliyah, Alia, Aleah, Aliya, Aliah, Alya, Aleigha, Eliyah, Alea, Alyah

#34 Kehlani

(155) — 6318 births — Kailani, Kaylani, Keilani, Kailany, Kelani, Kaelani, Keylani, Kaylanie, Kayloni, Kylani, Klani

#35 Ellie

(27) — 6307 births — Elly, Elli, Ellee

#36 Hazel

(19) — 6301 births — Hayzel

#37 Leah

(53) — 6200 births — Lia, Lea, Liah, Liya, Lya

#38 Mila

(28) — 6185 births — Milah

#39 Everly

(69) — 6146 births — Everleigh, Everlee, Everley, Everlie

#40 Lyla

(98) — 6126 births — Lilah, Lila, Lylah, Lylla

#41 Aurora

(22) — 6104 births

#42 Penelope

(23) — 6080 births

#43 Maya

(50) — 6004 births — Mya, Maia, Myah, Mayah, Maiya

#44 Abigail

(31) — 5939 births — Abbigail

#45 Ella

(32) — 5791 births — Ela

#46 Nova

(35) — 5688 births — Novah

#47 Ivy

(38) — 5521 births — Ivey, Ivie

#48 Alaia

(120) — 5502 births — Alayah, Alaya, Alaiya, Aleia, Alaiyah, Aleyah, Alaiah, Aleya, Eleia, Alahia, Elaya, Aalayah, Elaia

#49 Emery

(70) — 5490 births — Emory, Emerie, Emeri, Emmarie, Emori, Emry, Emrie, Emorie, Emmery

#50 Naomi

(44) — 5318 births — Nyomi, Nahomi, Nayomi, Nahomy, Niomi, Naiomi

Top Boy Names 2023

Liam remains at #1 in the Playground Analysis for the third year in a row, and it's Noah's second year at #2, but Oliver switches places with Jackson for the third spot.

Both Mateo and Lucas jump two spots to #5 and #6 respectively, and Elijah falls one spot to #7. Luca continues to rise, moving up two spots to #8.

Aiden makes the big fall from #5 to #9 and James falls one to #10.

This year's biggest movers include Ezra (#32 to #21), Elias (#46 to #35), Dylan (#40 to #32), Miles (#24 to #17), and Matthew (#45 to #38).

The biggest droppers are Logan (#39 to #50), Jayden (#25 to #33), and Mason (#27 to #34).

There is only one new entry into the Playground Analysis Top 50, which is actually a return from the year before: Thomas moves up five spots from #51 to #46. The only castout is Wyatt, who dropped four spots from #50 to #54.

Below, see the full Top 50 most popular boy names 2023 according to our Playground Analysis.

Playground Analysis Top 50 Boy Names

#1 Liam

(1) — 21088 births — Lyam

#2 Noah

(2) — 19192 births — Noa

#3 Oliver

(3) — 14784 births

#4 Jackson

(28) — 14423 births — Jaxon, Jaxson, Jaxxon, Jaxen, Jaxyn

#5 Mateo

(6) — 14062 births — Matteo, Matheo

#6 Lucas

(9) — 12406 births — Lukas

#7 Elijah

(5) — 12330 births — Alijah, Elyjah

#8 Luca

(24) — 12175 births — Luka, Lucca, Lukah

#9 Aiden

(40) — 11974 births — Ayden, Aidan, Adan, Aden, Eiden, Eydan, Aydin, Eyden, Aydan, Eidan, Adin, Aidyn

#10 James

(4) — 11696 births

#11 Theodore

(7) — 11132 births — Theodor

#12 Henry

(8) — 11096 births — Henri

#13 Kayden

(114) — 10643 births — Kaiden, Caden, Kaden, Cayden, Caiden, Kaidyn, Kaeden, Kadyn, Keyden

#14 William

(10) — 10603 births

#15 Benjamin

(11) — 10217 births

#16 Grayson

(44) — 10013 births — Greyson, Graysen, Greysen

#17 Miles

(43) — 9978 births — Myles

#18 Levi

(12) — 9468 births — Levy

#19 Michael

(16) — 9300 births — Mikael, Micheal, Mikel, Mykel, Maykel

#20 Sebastian

(13) — 9075 births — Sebastien

#21 Ezra

(15) — 8832 births — Ezrah

#22 Ethan

(25) — 8789 births — EIthan, Eythan

#23 Jack

(14) — 8723 births

#24 Daniel

(17) — 8465 births

#25 Alexander

(22) — 8253 births — Aleksander, Alexzander

#26 Leo

(18) — 8164 births

#27 Hudson

(21) — 8083 births — Hudsyn, Hutson

#28 John

(26) — 8078 births — Jon, Jhon

#29 Samuel

(20) — 8031 births

#30 Owen

(19) — 8007 births

#31 Asher

(23) — 7949 births

#32 Dylan

(34) — 7873 births — Dilan, Dillon

#33 Jayden

(49) — 7773 births — Jaden, Jaiden, Jadon, Jaydon, Jeyden

#34 Mason

(30) — 7743 births — Maison, Mayson

#35 Elias

(35) — 7595 births — Elyas, Ilyas, Alias

#36 Julian

(33) — 7565 births — Julien

#37 Carter

(48) — 7478 births — Karter

#38 Matthew

(32) — 7456 births — Mathew

#39 David

(27) — 7402 births

#40 Joseph

(29) — 7348 births — Josef

#41 Jacob

(36) — 7318 births — Jakob, Jaycob

#42 Maverick

(37) — 7283 births — Maverik, Mavrick, Mavrik

#43 Luke

(31) — 7255 births

#44 Isaac

(42) — 7159 births — Issac, Isaak

#45 Josiah

(53) — 7008 births — Jasiah, Joziah, Jesiah, Jessiah, Jaziah, Jahsiah, Jeziah

#46 Thomas

(41) — 6963 births — Tomas

#47 Caleb

(51) — 6858 births — Kaleb

#48 Gabriel

(38) — 6745 births

#49 Ezekiel

(50) — 6724 births — Ezequiel

#50 Logan

(39) — 6714 births

Despite the thousands of variant spellings out there, parents are overall broadening their name choices. Out of the Top 50 girl names in the Playground Analysis, only eleven actually increased in usage from 2022 to 2023: Sophia, Eliana, Lily, Kehlani, Ellie, Lyla, Aurora, Ivy, Alaia, Emery, and Naomi.

The same can be said for the boys, as only twelve increased in usage: Liam, Noah, Mateo, Luca, Theodore, Miles, Ezra, Hudson, Dylan, Elias, Matthew, and Thomas.

Readers, do these lists echo what you are hearing on the playground? Have any of you changed your baby name choice based on the Playground Analysis?