The Most Popular Baby Names for Boys and Girls in 2020

Sorry Karen and Chad, 2020 was not your year.

By: Amanda Mushro

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Photo by: Jamie Grill

Jamie Grill

2020 has been a rollercoaster of a year filled with unpredictable events. However, when it comes to baby naming, Baby Center reported that many of the popular names in 2019 are still fan favorites in 2020.

Sophia is the reigning queen of girls' names for the 11th year in a row, and Baby Center notes that while the top 10 didn't change from 2019, rankings did move up and down. So, while Amelia and Mia are still in the top 10, they did slip to the bottom.

The name Riley jumped up six spots and, interesting to note, Riley is also the only name in the top 10 that doesn't end with the feminine “ah” sound.

When it comes to the boys, Liam took the top spot for the second year in a row, while Caden dropped three places and Elijah overtook Grayson and Lucas’ spots on the list. This year the name Muhammad fell from the top 10 and Mateo jumped up to join the ranks.

Reflecting pop culture and current events, a few names saw a quick rise while others began to fall in popularity. The name Kobe shot up 175 percent after NBA legend Kobe Bryant lost his life in a tragic helicopter accident earlier this year alongside his daughter 13-year-old Gianna, whose name saw a spike of 216 percent.

The election also influenced baby names. Kamala is up by 104 percent and the name Liberty saw a 12 percent increase.

However, some names did not fare so well. Sorry, Karen, but your name fell by 13 percent, and Chad saw a 12 percent decrease.

Baby Center surveyed more than 520,000 parents to create the list and combined spellings of similar names to find their true popularity. So, who were the big winners of 2020?