Do you know an Ivy or Maverick? Washington’s 2022 most popular, fastest-rising baby names
Get ready to bump into a lot of Olivers and Olivias in the near future. For the second time in the last three years, both names have ranked as the most common boy and girl baby names, respectively, in Washington state.
The pair of names have floated around the top five in their respective gender every year since 2015, including multiple stints at No. 1.
Data from the Social Security Administration outlines the most popular baby names in Washington state dating back to 1960, showing the progression from David and Susan in 1960 to Oliver and Olivia over 60 years later.
The top five names for baby boys in 2022 were Oliver, Liam, Noah, Theodore and Henry; four have dominated the top 10 for the best part of the last decade, but Theodore only cracked the top 10 in 2019. The same dominant trend can be said for the top five baby girl names. In 2022, Olivia led the way ahead of Emma, Evelyn, Amelia and Charlotte.
But a handful of names also jumped significantly in popularity in 2022. Some of the quickly-rising boy’s names include Luca (No. 27), Adrian (No. 46), Milo (No. 51), Roman (No. 57), and Theo (No. 66), while the high-risers for girl’s names include Violet (No. 12), Iris (No. 45), Brooklyn, (No. 63), Eloise (No. 64) and Hailey (No. 66).
Some other names that have risen quickly in popularity include Maverick (No. 28), which is likely influenced by the 2022 release of Top Gun: Maverick. Ivy (No. 46) has also gained traction over the last decade, perhaps partly due to Beyoncé and Jay-Z naming their child Blue Ivy in 2012.
Popular U.S. baby names
The Social Security Administration also notes that while some names may seem more popular than their ranking, different spellings and official birth names are counted differently in their system, such as Zoe and Zoey or Elias and Eli.
Looking beyond the Evergreen State and on a national scale, some of the more unique names to come out of 2022 on the boy’s side are Sincere (No. 544), Justice (No. 764), and Chosen (No. 898), and some of the best on the girl’s side include Jream (No. 777), Paloma (No. 967) and Princess (No. 970).
