SSA Releases the List of Top Baby Names in 2019, Bumping 'Emma' Off the Top

For the record, there were 438 new Karens born in the U.S. in 2019.

We're already nine months into 2020, but the Social Security Administration (SSA) is just now getting around to releasing its list of popular baby names from 2019. The list ranks male and female names based on how many babies born in the U.S. were given each name during the course of the year.

Big news for Emmas and Olivias: For the first time since 2013, Emma isn't the top name for females, having been replaced with the ever-lovely Olivia. Emma has been the reigning champion since 2014, when she stole the long-held title from Sophia. Other than the order being a little different, the female list for 2019 is largely the same as it was in 2018.

Female Names:

1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Ava
4. Sophia
5. Isabella
6. Charlotte
7. Amelia
8. Mia
9. Harper
10. Evelyn

As for male names, the No. 1 and No. 2 spots remain the same while Nos. 3–9 appear in a different order. No. 10, however, is now Ethan, whereas in 2018, Logan took the tenth spot. Liam is at the top of the list for the third year in a row.

Male Names:

1. Liam
2. Noah
3. Oliver
4. William
5. Elijah
6. James
7. Benjamin
8. Lucas
9. Mason
10. Ethan

To put the popular names in perspective, check out this factoid: There were 20,502 babies named Liam born in 2019 (a little over 1% of baby boys born in the U.S. that year). Meanwhile, there were 18,451 new Olivias born in 2019 (again, accounting for a little over 1% of female babies born in the U.S. that year).

The SSA also released a list of names that dropped in popularity between 2018 and 2019. For boys, the name Chad tanked in popularity from No. 894 to No. 1123, while female name Tatiana dropped from No. 694 to No. 951.

Conversely, names that have significantly increased in popularity include Sekani, for boys (jumping from No. 7031 to No. 872), and Navy, for girls (jumping from No. 1270 to No. 811).

And because we care, we at OCN did a little more digging to verify how far down the list the name Karen dropped between 2018 and 2019. For the record, it dropped from No. 637 to No. 660. There were 438 new Karens born in the U.S. in 2019.

Are you having a baby sometime soon? What's your name of choice? Something from off this list, or are you leaning toward something more original? Tell us in the comments!