New York City's most popular baby names of 2017

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Friday, December 21, 2018
New York City's most popular baby names of 2017
New York City health officials say Emma and Liam were the most popular baby names in New York City last year.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- New York City health officials say Emma and Liam were the most popular baby names in New York City last year.

Liam has been the top name since 2016, while Ethan, the favorite in 2015, fell to third in 2016 and then fourth in 2017. Emma was the most popular name of 2017, after Olivia was the top name in 2016.

Health Department officials announced that birth certificate records show 734 babies named Liam and 571 babies named Olivia were born in New York City in 2017.

Behind Emma, Olivia and Mia were third and fourth, while Noah was second for the boys.

Here's list of the top 10 for girls:

1. Emma

2. Olivia

3. Mia

4. Sophia

5. Isabella

6. Ava

7. Leah

8. Emily

9. Sarah

10. Abigail

And here's the top 10 list for boys:

1. Liam

2. Noah

3. Jacob

4. Ethan

5. David

6. Lucas

7. Matthew

8. Jayden

9. Aiden

10. Daniel

In all there were 56,911 girls and 60,102 boys born in New York City 2017. The number of overall births decreased 2.8 percent, from 120,367 to 117,013.

Here's a look at the number of births, based on borough of mother's residence:

Manhattan - 43,691

Bronx - 14,095

Brooklyn - 28,717

Queens - 24,761

Staten Island - 5,749

Celebrity names were influential in 2017, with many parents naming their children after movie stars. Among girls, parents chose Penelope (No. 29), Daisy (No. 102), Margot (No. 115), and Saoirse (No. 140). For boys, names like Ryan (No. 14), Chris (No. 31), Luke (No. 6), and Harrison (No. 98) were popular.

Geographic names are a perennial favorite, with places like Austin (No. 57), Hudson (No. 89), Kingston (No. 156), and Princeton (No. 157) making the list for boys. For girls, geographic place names like Charlotte (No. 13), Savannah (No. 63), Catalina (No. 117), and Egypt (No. 123) made the list.

Some parents of baby girls sought inspiration in astronomy and solar phenomena, with names like Luna (No. 27), Aurora (No. 82), Nova (No. 101), and Venus (No. 138). Similarly, names of famous scientists and astronauts were popular for both girls and boys this year. Isaac (No. 28), Ivan (No. 88), Louis (No. 101), and Neil (No. 165) were popular for boys. Rachel (No. 22), Grace (No. 24), Ada (No. 123), and Sally (No. 139) were popular for baby girls in 2017.

Some New Yorkers gave their children rare names, with as few as 10 parents naming their daughters Artemis, Tzippy, and Reizy and sons Azriel, Zeus, and Thaddeus.

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