The Top Baby Names in New York

By Michael Kress May 25, 2016

Noah and Emma were the most popular baby names of 2015 in the United States, but New Yorkers did their own thing in in naming their babies, as in so much else. Statewide, the top baby names of last year were Olivia for a girl and Liam for a boy. However, the nationwide favorites weren’t far behind: Noah was #4 for boys in New York, and Emma was #2 for girls.

These are some the insights to be gleaned from data released this month by the Social Security Administration detailing the most popular baby names of 2015.

In Connecticut, parents reflected the national preference on the boys' side, with Noah at the top of the state list. Sophia won out in CT on the girls’ side, with Emma in the second spot.

New Jersey saw the opposite: The nationwide girls’ favorite, Emma, was likewise #1 in NJ, while the state’s most popular boy’s name was Liam, mirroring New York.

There are rarely dramatic shifts year by year in the rankings of most popular baby names, but trend emerge over time. Gone are the years when Michael and Jennifer ruled the list year after year, for instance. Meanwhile, we’ve gotten used to seeing names such as Isabella, Mia, Ethan, and Jacob high on the list in recent years. (Michael does remain popular, at #5 in New York for 2015, though Jennifer has fallen out of the statewide top 100 altogether.)

In 2014, the New York winners were Sophia and Jacob, with Olivia and Liam—2015’s most popular—both in the #2 slots for their respective genders.

Fun fact: Michael was, indeed, the most popular baby name the year I was born, while Sophia was the top girl’s name in 2013, the year my daughter of that name came along. My other two daughters, with Hebrew names, don’t even appear in (or near) the top 100.

For the truly obsessed, see the New York lists of the top 100 baby names for boys and girls below!

Popularity for top 100 names in New York for births in 2015
Rank	Male name	Number of males	Female name	Number of females
1	Liam	1,388	Olivia	1,297
2	Jacob	1,281	Emma	1,254
3	Ethan	1,244	Sophia	1,121
4	Noah	1,236	Isabella	1,066
5	Michael	1,163	Mia	1,012
6	Matthew	1,150	Ava	921
7	Mason	1,049	Emily	805
8	Joseph	1,045	Charlotte	758
9	Lucas	1,018	Madison	734
10	Daniel	1,004	Abigail	722
11	Alexander	983	Leah	636
12	Aiden	981	Amelia	631
13	Dylan	961	Sofia	594
14	James	919	Chloe	566
15	David	890	Grace	505
16	Jayden	883	Sarah	494
17	Benjamin	873	Ella	492
18	Ryan	859	Elizabeth	484
19	Logan	843	Avery	469
20	Anthony	835	Victoria	461
21	William	737	Gabriella	448
22	Christopher	664	Zoe	429
23	Jack	659	Harper	424
24	Nicholas	651	Scarlett	415
25	Samuel	637	Evelyn	373
26	Gabriel	634	Lily	367
27	Sebastian	632	Samantha	357
28	John	631	Hannah	355
29	Joshua	605	Riley	354
30	Jackson	599	Ariana	353
31	Andrew	598	Savannah	353
32	Oliver	572	Esther	352
33	Henry	549	Alexa	348
34	Elijah	527	Hailey	346
35	Carter	510	Natalie	337
36	Isaac	503	Maya	336
37	Nathan	499	Skylar	335
38	Owen	499	Arianna	331
39	Thomas	490	Layla	330
40	Aaron	489	Rachel	328
41	Christian	479	Gianna	326
42	Jonathan	478	Aria	323
43	Hunter	465	Ashley	321
44	Luke	460	Brianna	318
45	Adam	449	Penelope	318
46	Caleb	443	Anna	315
47	Julian	431	Zoey	310
48	Tyler	412	Aubrey	298
49	Chase	397	Camila	296
50	Evan	391	Valentina	287
51	Leo	387	Julia	284
52	Charles	381	Stella	284
53	Connor	377	Violet	278
54	Cameron	371	Allison	275
55	Adrian	367	Kayla	269
56	Jason	361	Alexandra	265
57	Eli	355	Sara	265
58	Justin	352	Claire	264
59	Zachary	352	Nora	262
60	Jeremiah	350	Eva	258
61	Josiah	349	Mila	255
62	Nathaniel	346	Kaylee	253
63	Kevin	343	Mackenzie	253
64	Robert	342	Kylie	251
65	Angel	340	Lillian	250
66	Brandon	331	Addison	243
67	Jordan	331	Madeline	243
68	Moshe	320	Aaliyah	237
69	Theodore	320	Bella	234
70	Austin	318	Genesis	233
71	Dominic	318	Chaya	231
72	Gavin	315	Miriam	231
73	Luca	312	Eliana	225
74	Vincent	312	Katherine	223
75	Isaiah	301	Madelyn	221
76	Brayden	298	Alice	218
77	Wyatt	297	Sophie	215
78	Ian	290	Angelina	214
79	Landon	286	Peyton	210
80	Grayson	281	Isabelle	208
81	Levi	276	Autumn	206
82	Ayden	274	Eleanor	201
83	Abraham	271	Maria	201
84	Kayden	268	Naomi	200
85	Max	265	Aurora	197
86	Jace	264	Adriana	194
87	Jaxon	261	Rivka	193
88	Jeremy	256	Lucy	192
89	Giovanni	245	Caroline	191
90	Parker	241	Alyssa	190
91	Xavier	241	Taylor	190
92	Hudson	240	Audrey	188
93	Steven	232	Quinn	187
94	Declan	231	Sadie	183
95	Kyle	229	Melanie	180
96	Jake	227	Chana	179
97	Jaxson	226	Julianna	179
98	Maxwell	225	Kimberly	179
99	George	224	Ellie	177
100	Blake	222	Emilia	175
101	Mateo	222	Juliana	175