The "Playground Analysis" Finds the 60 Most Popular Baby Names Right Now — For Real

If you’re like many new parents, you might find it hard to strike the perfect balance when naming your little one. There are so many ways you can go: long names, short names, Disney names! What if you just like the idea of choosing a popular name, but still want your child to feel special and individual? How can you tell how popular a name is, really? Great news: There’s a fascinating new resource you can use to find out.

You might know that the Social Security Administration (SSA) compiles a yearly list of the most popular baby names in the United States each year, based on the information parents give when they apply for their newborn’s Social Security number. Here, spelling counts, so names like Zoe, Zoey and Zoie are counted as three separate names.

The baby-naming website Nameberry, however, has put together its own list, called the Playground Analysis, of the real top baby names of the year by ranking each name with all of its spellings together as one name. "The baby name data released each year by the SSA lists variant spellings like Eleanor and Elinor, or Luca and Luka, as totally separate names, which can impact their official position on the charts," says Sophie Kihm, Nameberry’s editor-in-chief. "Listing the various spellings together gives us a more accurate view of the top names in the country." As in, the combined ranking shows which names you're actually most likely to hear called out on the playground.

This shifts the name charts significantly. While the SSA has Olivia as the most popular name in the country, Nameberry’s calculation determined that the name Sophia was actually number one in overall popularity for girls in 2024, knocking Olivia down to No. 3. (Check out this viral TikTok that thoroughly covers their process.) “Both Sophia and Sofia are in the SSA Top 10, so when combined, it overtakes Olivia by almost 2000 births,” Kihm explains. Let’s do a comparison of the 25 most popular girls’ names and the most popular boys' names, according to both the SSA and the Playground Analysis.

Here are the most popular girl names in the country, according to the SSA, which counts variant spellings as different names.

1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Amelia
4. Charlotte
5. Mia
6. Sophia
7. Isabella
8. Evelyn
9. Ava
10. Sofia
11. Camila
12. Harper
13. Luna
14. Eleanor
15. Violet
16. Aurora
17. Elizabeth
18. Eliana
19. Hazel
20. Chloe
21. Ellie
22. Nora
23. Gianna
24. Lily
25. Emily

Here are the top 25 names according to Nameberry, which combines different spellings of the same name.

1. Sophia, including Sofia and Sofiya
2. Amelia, including Emilia, Emelia and Amilia
3. Olivia, including Alivia and Alyvia
4. Emma, including Ema
5. Charlotte, including Charlette
6. Mia, including Miah, Miya and Miyah
7. Isabella, including Izabella and Isabela
8. Adeline, including Adalynn, Adaline, Adalyn, Adelyn, Adelynn, Addilyn, Addilynn, Adilene, Addalyn, Addelyn, Adilynn, Addalynn, Adelyne, Adalyne and Adilyn
9. Eliana, including Elliana, Elianna, Ellianna, Eliyanah, Elyana, Elyanna, Eliyana, Ellyana, Ellieana and Eleana
10. Evelyn, including Evelynn, Evalyn, Evalynn and Evelin
11. Isla, including Ayla, Iyla, Ila, Aila, Aylah, Eila, Aiyla, Iylah, Aayla and Ilah
12. Aria, including Arya, Ariyah, Ariya, Ariah, Aarya and Aryah
13. Camila, including Kamila, Camilla, Kamilla and Kamilah
14. Zoe, including Zoey and Zoie
15. Madelyn, including Madeline, Madilyn, Madeleine, Madelynn, Madilynn, Madalyn, Madalynn, Madelyne and Madelin
16. Elena, including Alaina, Elaina, Alayna, Alena, Aleyna, Elayna and Ellena
17. Ava, including Avah, Ayva and Ayvah
18. Riley, including Rylee, Ryleigh, Rylie, Rhylee and Reilly
19. Layla, including Leila, Laila, Leyla, Laylah, Lailah and Leilah
20. Chloe, including Khloe and Cloe
21. Lily, including Lilly, Lillie and Lili
22. Eleanor, including Elinor, Eleanore, Elanor and Eleonor
23. Nora, including Norah
24. Harper
25. Violet, including Violette and Violett

Now let's do the same for the boys, starting with the SSA's top 25.

1. Liam
2. Noah
3. Oliver
4. Theodore
5. James
6. Henry
7. Mateo
8. Elijah
9. Lucas
10. William
11. Benjamin
12. Levi
13. Ezra
14. Sebastian
15. Jack
16. Daniel
17. Samuel
18. Michael
19. Ethan
20. Asher
21. John
22. Hudson
23. Luca
24. Leo
25. Elias

“As a general rule, boy names tend to have fewer alternative spellings than girl name,” Kihm notes. “That’s part of the reason that Liam is the top name in both the SSA stats and the Playground Analysis. It’s also just a very popular name that has grown in usage over the past year.”

1. Liam, including Lyam
2. Noah, including Noa
3. Oliver
4. Mateo, including Matteo and Matheo
5. Jackson, including Jaxon, Jaxson, Jaxxon, Jaxen and Jaxyn
6. Luca, including Luka, Lucca and, Lukah
7. Lucas, including Lukas
8. Theodore, including Theodor
9. Elijah, including Alijah
10. James
11. Henry, including Henri
12. Aiden, including Ayden, Aidan, Adan, Eiden, Aden, Aydin, Eyden, Aydan, Eydan, Eidan, Adin, Aidyn and Aedan
13. William
14. Miles, including Myles
15. Ethan, including Eithan Eythan
16. Benjamin
17. Levi, including Levy
18. Grayson, including Greyson, Graysen, Greysen, Gracen
19. Kayden, including Kaiden, Caden, Kaden, Cayden, Caiden, Kaidyn, Kaeden and Kadyn
20. Ezra, including Ezrah
21. Michael, including Mikael, Micheal, Mikel and Mykel
22. Sebastian, including Sebastien
23. Daniel
24. Jack
25. John, including Jon and Jhon

Jaxon, as in NFL player Jaxon Shipley, helped boost the name in Nameberry’s Playground Analysis.

The Playground Analysis condensed the SSA’s list down to 100 names. Here are the biggest leaps in popularity:

Girl Names that Took the Biggest Jumps

1. Kaylee — moved 147 places to #74
2. Journee — moved 121 places to #96
3. Kehlani — moved 113 places to #37
4. Callie — moved 97 places to #79
5. Amaya — moved 93 places to #76

Boy Names That Took the Biggest Jumps

1. Kayson — moved 223 spots to #68
2. Zayn — moved 149 spots to #100
3. Kayden — moved 106 spots to #19
4. Elliot — moved 68 spots to #82
5. Malachi — moved 60 spots to #89

Some names are spelled one way, but can sound multiple ways. “The biggest limitation of the Playground Analysis is that some names have multiple standard pronunciations, but we must categorize the names based on a single pronunciation,” Kihm explains. Take the name Henry, for example. “While it’s true that the original pronunciation of Henri is something like ‘Ohn-REE’, most Americans pronounce Henri and Henry the same way,” she says. “We thought it was a better fit to group them together.”

When the Nameberry experts looked at the list according to the Playground Analysis, these trends emerged as having an effect on baby names.

Using this in-depth info from the Playground Analysis is a great way to identify what baby names you like and don’t like. Make your own ranked list of favorites, practice saying and spelling each option, then listen to your heart (or wait to meet your baby). The right name will come at just the right time!

Check out these Good Housekeeping lists:

Disney Baby Names | Indian/Hindu Boy Names | Indian/Hindu Girl Names | Italian Baby Names | Japanese Baby Names | French Baby Names | Hispanic Boy Names | Hispanic Girl Names | Irish Boy Names | Irish Girl Names | Long Names for Boys | Long Names for Girls | Nature Baby Names | Short Names for Boys | Short Names for Girls | Gender-Neutral Names | Western/Cowboy Baby Names | 1920s Names | 1930s Names | 1940s Names | 1950s Names | 1960s Names | 1970s Names

Lisa Mulcahy

Contributing Writer

Lisa is an internationally established health writer whose credits include Good Housekeeping, Prevention, Men’s Health, Oprah Daily, Woman’s Day, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Glamour, The Washington Post, WebMD, Medscape, The Los Angeles Times, Parade, Health, Self, Family Circle and Seventeen. She is the author of eight best-selling books, including The Essentials of Theater.