Noah and Olivia stay on top: Alberta's top baby names of 2024

Noah and Olivia seem to be entrenched in their No. 1 spots as the province's most popular baby names, according to provincial data released on Monday. 

Olivia claims her crown for the 12th year in a row, now doubling the consecutive record that Jessica held in the mid-1990s. 

Noah takes the top spot for boys yet again, for the sixth year in a row. The front-runner for the most popular baby boy name of all time is Ethan, winning nine years in a row in the early 2000s.

The top five rankings for boy names in 2024 were Noah, Oliver, Liam, Theodore and Henry. Oliver and Liam switched places in the podium from 2023, while Henry leaped Jack to get back in the top five. 

Though Olivia continues to dominate the girls' rankings, she's trailed by Charlotte, Amelia, Sophia and Emma. Charlotte jumped two spots since 2023, while Amelia and Sophia both dropped one spot, leaving Emma in fifth place for the second year in a row.

Baby name trends

"Even though these names have been used for hundreds of years, particularly in the case of Noah, they never enjoyed top popularity until this century," said Sherri Suzanne, founder of My Name for Life.

When two names become so popular, those looking for future names tend to use the common names as building blocks for inspiration, according to Suzanne. 

"Noah spawned a desire for other less-used biblical names like Elijah and Ezra. Olivia made parents look for variations like Olive or rhythmically similar names like Amelia."

The province saw more than 50,000 registered births in 2024, with many memorable additions to the list such as Bliss and Heavenly for girls, while Rowdy and Shooter gained popularity among boys. 

Some Albertans turned to nature for inspiration, such as Cedar, Prairie, Bear and Fox. Names with city connections included Memphis, Chicago and Melbourne. 

And one notable debut for boy names was Zyn — the first ever documented instance of this name in Alberta. 

The longest name last year was 27 letters: Aalaiyehahàmara-Meieareseini. Meanwhile, the shortest name of 2024 was one letter: J. 

Alberta's first born baby in 2025 was a girl named Amira, who made her appearance just two minutes into the new year at the South Health Campus in Calgary.