The province said Wednesday that Liam and Emma topped the lists for Alberta’s most popular baby names in 2012, and the province saw a record-breaking number of births.
In 2012, 52,398 babies were born in Alberta – 27,030 boys, and 25,368 girls – the numbers surpassed the previous standing record from 2009 when 51,505 babies were born in Alberta.
Last year, Liam was the most popular boy’s name for a third year in a row, with 281 families choosing that name for their newborn boys.
Emma surged from the third most popular in 2011, to first the next year with 299 families introducing a newborn girl into the world.
Some families chose to name their newborns after places, including Cairo, Rio, Denver, and Memphis for boys, while some girls were named Montana, Alabama, Ireland, Germany and Alberta.
On the more creative side, some names chosen by families were truly unique, with some little girls being named Precious, Dancing-Sunflower, Rhaney-Day, and Skeeter.
Some boys were named Thunderbolt, Little, Brave and Icarus.
In all, the Vital Statistics Branch of Service Alberta recorded 5,979 distinct boy names and 7,158 distinct girls’ names last year.
The province has also launched a new Alberta Baby Names app – with more than 81,000 baby names used in Alberta, and their popularity dating back as far as 1980, to help parents decide on a name for their newborn.
Source: Service Alberta - Top Baby Names 2012
