Quick Take
For the first time in five years, Mia has overtaken Olivia as the most popular girl's name in California, according to 2024 data from the Social Security Administration. On the boys’ side, Liam reclaimed the top spot from Noah, continuing a yearslong rivalry that mirrors national naming trends.
Mia has beaten out Olivia for the most popular girl’s name in California in 2024 – knocking Olivia down to second place from the top spot. Olivia had been No. 1 on the list since 2019.
As for boys’ names, Liam beat out Noah for No. 1 – bringing the fight between the two names into its seventh year in California.
Published each May by the Social Security Administration, the most popular baby names report by state show that Californians have similar preferences to the rest of the country. Nationwide, Liam and Noah were the top two boy names and Olivia and Emma were the top two girl names. Mia was fifth nationwide.
California’s top 10 most popular boy names saw three new ones: Ezra, Lucas and Ethan booted out Elijah, Ezekiel and Benjamin to take eighth, ninth and 10th places. Benjamin, Elijah and Ezekiel now rank 10, 11 and 12 on the list of most popular boys’ names.
The top 10 most popular girl names have remained relatively stable for the past several years with slightly different rankings, including Amelia moving up to seventh from the ninth spot. Both Sofia and Sophia are still in the top 10 for both Californians and new parents nationwide.
Considering both spellings, Sofia/Sophia is the most popular girl’s name in California by far, with 2,926 babies named Sophia or Sofia in 2024 – far outpacing Mia, with 1,986 babies. Nationwide, more than 20,000 babies were named Sophia or Sofia.
The full database is available here.
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