Each year, BabyCenter compiles all the data from their users and publishes a list of the year’s most popular baby names. The official rankings from the Social Security Administration, based on actual issued birth certificates, usually don’t come in until months into the new year, so this is our first peek at which names might have been given to the most babies born in 2026. But they also spot names that have risen quickly in popularity, helping identify what’s coming next in baby-naming trends.
The most popular baby names of 2026 are a predictable pair: Olivia for girls and Noah for boys. Olivia was also the most popular girl name of 2025, according to the SSA, and Noah was #2 on the boys’ chart. Here’s how the rest of the top 10 shook out, according to BabyCenter’s data: Many of these names have fallen somewhere in the top 10 for multiple years running, but Evelyn in particular rejoins the chart after falling off in 2024.
And five completely new monikers broke into the top 100 this year. Making their debuts are Magnolia, Milo, Dean, Archer, and Stetson. Speaking of Magnolia, long baby names are generally gaining in popularity, according to BabyCenter’s report.
In fact, 29% of the top girl names and 31% of the top boy names had seven or more letters (21% had four or less, by comparison). Perhaps parents are opting for longer names that sound good on an adult’s resume, with cute nickname options to use ‘til then. If you’re big into initials, you’ll like to know that E is currently the most popular first initial for girls (15% of BabyCenter’s top 100 girl names begin with it), while J ranks highest for boys at 14%.
Western-inspired baby names have been trending for a couple of years now, and that doesn’t seem to be slowing down. BabyCenter noted big jumps in popularity for Stetson, Wilder, Callahan, Sadie, and Sutton, to name a few. Names that include an X got a lot of use this year too, according to BabyCenter’s Steph Coffield.
Prepare to see even more baby Jaxsons, Maximillians, Ximenas, Xaidens, X-cetera (sorry). And thanks of course to the eponymous movie, the name Odysseus rose an astronomical 1,456 spots on BabyCenter’s popularity charts. While it won’t be everyone’s first choice for a baby boy in the new year, it does seem like more parents are leaning into Greek mythology for name inspo.
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