Know a baby Liam or Olivia? You shouldn’t be surprised.
Liam and Olivia were New Jersey’s most popular male and female baby names in 2021, marking the second year the monikers topped the list, according to data released on Thursday, May 12 by the Social Security Administration.
Last year, 730 babies were given the name Liam in the Garden State, compared to 549 little Olivias. Liam and Olivia were also the most popular male and female baby names across the entire United States.
In New Jersey, rounding out the top 10 for boys’ names were Noah, Lucas, Joseph, Michael, Benjamin, James, Jacob, Anthony and Ethan. For girls’ names, Emma, Mia, Ava, Sophia, Isabella, Charlotte, Amelia, Gianna and Leah completed the top 10.
The statistics were based on Social Security card application data.
Some famous New Jerseyans would certainly like some of the names on the new list—like Michael Douglas (born in New Brunswick on September 25, 1944), Jersey City native Nathan Lane (Nathan came in at No. 29 for boys), and Passaic’s Zoe Saldana (Zoe was No. 25 for girls).
Liam has been New Jersey’s most popular boys’ name since 2015, while Olivia has only topped the list in the last two years. From 2017-2019, Emma was the most commonly-given girls’ name in the state.