We’re a quarter of the way through 2021, and some interesting trends have already emerged in the baby naming realm.
The experts at Nameberry track the most popular names on their site throughout each year, and in the first-quarter report for 2021, they’ve identified Arlo and Ava as the current top names for boys and girls, respectively. Those two picks replaced Luna and Milo, which both ranked No. 1 at the end of 2020.
Other names in the top 10 include similarly short choices such as Isla, Aria, Maeve, Finn, Leo and Kai. The experts also identified trends in the top 100, such as gender-neutral R names for boys (Remy, River and Rory), “heroic” names (Athena, Orion and Arthur), and girl names ending in “e” (Daphne, Penelope and Ariadne).
Nameberry’s chart reflects the most-viewed names on the U.S. website each quarter. Some names draw attention due to genuine popularity in the moment, while others stem from celebrity choices (a la August, which Princess Eugenie and Mandy Moore picked for their newborn sons earlier this year).
“The names in our chart are often up-and-coming ones that are likely to rise, or stay popular, in the next few years,” Nameberry’s resident expert Clare Green wrote on the site. “For the coolest and freshest options, take a look at our readers’ favorites in the first quarter of 2021.”
Below, find Nameberry’s top 20 names of 2021 so far for girls and boys. Visit the website for more trends as well as the full top 1,000 list.
Girls
- Ava
- Aurora
- Eloise
- Luna
- Aurelia
- Ophelia
- Freya
- Aria
- Isla
- Maeve
- Mia
- Ivy
- Olivia
- Rose
- Iris
- Alice
- Amelia
- Hazel
- Astrid
- Maya
Boys
- Arlo
- Rowan
- August
- Finn
- Atticus
- Ezra
- Silas
- Kai
- Milo
- Leo
- Felix
- Theodore
- Cassius
- Asher
- Henry
- Caleb
- Oscar
- Jude
- Arthur
- Soren
