Ailany, Truce rise in popularity as baby names in 2024 — but Olivia and Liam hold onto the top spots

Olivia and Liam are new parents’ top choices for baby names in 2024 for the sixth year in a row, the Social Security Administration announced. 

The agency last week released its annual list of most popular baby names in honor of Mother’s Day, with data showing Americans love the familiar when it comes to naming their children. 

Emma took the second slot for girls, and Noah for boys, also for the sixth year in a row, the agency said. The slight difference was that Luna dropped out of the top 10 — to be replaced by Sofia — which entered at number 10 for the first time.

Other girls’ names that made the top 10 were Amelia, Charlotte, Mia, Sophia, Isabella, Evelyn and Ava. 

For boys, the top 10 list was rounded out by Theodore, James, Henry, Mateo, Elijah, Lucas, and William.

However, several unique names started to climb their way up the list. Ailany, which means “chief,” showed the biggest increase in popularity among girls’ names. For boys, the name Truce, which means “peace,” rose an incredible 11,118 spots compared to last year, cracking the top 1,000 at No. 991 overall, the agency said. 

Other names rising in popularity for boys were: Colsen, Bryer, Halo and Azaiah; and for girls were Aylani, Marjorie, Scottie and Analela.

The comprehensive baby name list in the U.S. is issued annually by the SSA — which began compiling the baby names list in 1997, with names dating back to 1880. The list tracks the thousands of names given to babies born each year. 

At the time of a child’s birth, parents supply the name to the agency when applying for a child’s Social Security card.