05-05-2025
Virginia reports more babies born in 2024 named 'Liam' or 'Charlotte.' It's a years-long trend
Is Virginia in the midst of a 'Liam' or a 'Charlotte' population explosion? Apparently.
According to data released May 2 by the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Vital Records, Liam and Charlotte were the most popular names among the 94,443 babies born in 2024 across the commonwealth. It is the sixth straight year Liam has been on the top and the fifth for Charlotte.
'The 2024 list showcases a blend of strong, meaningful names that parents are embracing for their little ones,' Celes Davis, the chief deputy state registrar, said in a statement announcing the findings.
The release is something VDH does annually.
Rounding out the top 15 names chosen for boys in 2024 after Liam: Noah, James, Oliver, William, Henry, Theodore, Lucas, Elijah, John, Levi, Ethan, Dylan, Benjamin and Michael.
The top 15 girls' names after Charlotte? They are Olivia, Emma, Sophia, Amelia, Isabella, Mia, Ava, Eleanor, Evelyn, Harper, Elizabeth, Sofia, Abigail and Aurora.
While Liam has reigned supreme for the past six years, the only time Charlotte was not atop the list was in 2019 when the No. 1 choice was "Ava."
The Office of Vital Records even broke down the five most popular names of 2024 based on the family's ethnicity:
Asian: Boys – Noah, Muhammad, Henry, Lucas and Ethan; Girls – Sophia, Emma, Olivia, Chloe and Eliana
Black: Boys – Noah, Amir, Josiah, Elijah and Ezra; Girls – Nova, Naomi, Ava, Brielle and Zuri
Hispanic: Boys – Liam, Dylan, Matteo, Noah and Thiago; Girls – Mia, Isabella, Sofia, Genesis and Camila
White: Boys – James, William, Oliver, Henry and Theodore; Girls – Charlotte, Olivia, Eleanor, Amelia and Emma
'Baby name trends are always evolving, and over the past five years, we've seen some exciting shifts,' VDH said in the announcement.
For example, 25 years ago, the chosen names defined a generation. 'Jacob' and 'Emily' were the top picks then, with more traditional names such as 'Matthew" and 'Sarah' not far behind.
VDH said parents then started to steer away from the classics and began basing their children's names on things such as nature, pop culture and elegance.
Since 2019, the trend has been to reintroduce the traditional names with those from the other areas.
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In addition to names, VDH also tracked data such as the most common day of the week to give birth last year:
August was the most popular birth month, with 8,370 births.
The most common birthday was Oct. 18, with 344 births.
Friday was the most popular day for births, with 14,274.
Sunday was the least common birth day, with 8,778.
There were 2,806 sets of twins and 53 sets of triplets born.
There were 177 babies born on New Year's Eve 2023, and 161 born on New Year's Day 2024.
The number of babies sharing a birthday with their mothers was 277. Babies sharing their fathers' birthdays totaled 283.
If you are interested in searching for more records such as these, check out VDH's Office of Vital Records website.
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Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Virginia releases lists of most popular baby names in 2024
