Canada's New Top Baby Names

Updated Mon Oct 14 2024

Great news for Canadian name lovers! The most popular names in Canada are here, with some gorgeous new additions to the Top 200.

This is only the second year that the country's top names have been published, in time for Canada's Thanksgiving. Until last year, each province and territory published its own baby name data, which — while fascinating — were hard to pull together. Each place had its own rules about which names were counted.

Now you can find national baby name records from 1991-2023 on Statistics Canada.

Read the top baby names and fastest climbers below, as well as the top names in each province. They show just how much regional variation there is — especially in Quebec, where French names dominate.

It’s also worth noting that many parents use names from indigenous and other minority languages, which never make the top of the charts, but are an important part of Canada’s unique baby name profile.

With gratitude, here are the top names and trends in Canada, nationwide and locally.

Top Baby Names in Canada 2023

Canada's Top 10 girl names have only changed slightly since the previous year. Most remain in the same order, but Sofia and Alice have entered the Top 10, replacing Ava and Lily.

Canada and the USA share their Top Six baby names, in exactly the same order! Chloe, Mila, Sofia, and Alice make the Top 10 in Canada, but rank lower in the States. Alice's popularity is mostly fueled by Quebec, where it is the top baby girl name; it ranks lower in the other provinces.

The Top 10 Canadian boy names remain the same as last year, with a few ranking swaps. Canada and the US share six of their Top 10 boy names. Leo, Thomas, Benjamin and Jack are in the Canadian Top 10, but are less popular in the States — especially Thomas, which is Number 41. Again, we can thank Quebec for this: Thomas is significantly more popular there than anywhere else.

See the top 200 baby names in Canada 2023

Fastest Rising Names in Canada

The fastest-rising girl name in Canada's Top 200 is Rehmat, an Urdu name meaning "mercy", which leapt up 82 places to Number 97.

Other girl names rising steeply come from a variety of cultures and styles, including French Margot, Arabic Maryam, and unisex English surname Emery. The fastest climbing girl names in Canada are:

All the girl names new (or returning) to the Top 200 in 2023 were:

The fastest-rising boy name in Canada's Top 200 is Zion, which increased by 49 places to Number 133. The other boy names that have leapt up the most ranks include several Arabic names, such as Amir and Rayan, as well as French favorite Eloi and cool guy Jace.

They are:

All the new (or re-entering) boy names in Canada’s Top 200 are:

Canada versus the USA

Canada and the States share most of their Top 100 baby names, but one third of boy names and a quarter of girl names are different.

Some of these are French names popular in Quebec, such as Beatrice, Rosalie, Edouard and Jules. Others represent Canada's Muslim communities, like Amira and Muhammad. Some popular Canadian names — like Freya and Jasmine, Arthur and Arlo — are in line with trends in Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

Charlie is in the Top 100 for both boys in Canada — Number 20 for girls, and Number 61 for boys — but ranks a little lower for both sexes in the States.

Below are all the names in the Top 100 in Canada, but not in the US:

Top Baby Names by Province and Territory

Ontario 2022

Canada’s most populous province now only releases its Top 10 names at the end of the following year. In 2022 they were:

Quebec 2023

Québécois names are a real treat for name lovers. Not only do they include French choices that are less-used elsewhere, but the province publishes every name registered, including double-barrel names, right down to Zyra-Gylle and Zyon Oswald. Quebec’s Top 10 baby names in 2023 were:

Alberta 2023

Alberta’s baby name data also cover every name registered, from Aabhay to Zyrile, so they’re well worth a browse. In 2023, the Top 10 names in the Sunshine Province were:

British Columbia 2023

BC’s baby name statistics cover every name given to 5 or more babies. The Top 10 girl and boy names in 2023 were:

Manitoba 2023

These were the Top 10 girl and boy names in the Keystone Province last year.

Saskatchewan 2023

Saskatchewan’s much smaller population means that to make the province’s Top 20, a name had to be given to just 26 boys, or 23 girls.

Nova Scotia 2023

Could this be the only place where Violet outranks Olivia, and Owen is more popular than Noah? Nova Scotia’s top baby names group all genders together (with a 3-way tie for 19th place), and to make the Top 10 a name had to be given to just 19 children.

New Brunswick 2023

This smaller Atlantic province releases only the top few names each year. New Brunswick’s most popular names of 2023 were:

Newfoundland and Labrador 2020

The most recent baby name statistics for this province are from 2020. The list combines spellings, so names with several popular spellings, like Amelia/Emilia, rank highly.

Prince Edward Island 2023

It doesn't take many babies to make a top-ranking name in this tiny province. Here are PEI's most popular names, with raw numbers.

Jack (9)
Oliver (8)
Beau, Theo, Thomas, Sadie, Sophie, William (7)
Hudson, Lincoln, Wesley, Wyatt (6)
Charlotte, Ellie, Hazel, Lily, Lucy, Olivia (5)
Ava, Emma, Lydia (4)

Northwest Territories 2019

In the sparsely-populated territories, we really get into the low name figures, and less frequent updates. The most recent data available for NWT is from 2019.

Girls:

Zoey (4)
Emily, Hazel, Kinsley, Lily (3)

Boys:

Elias, John, Joseph, Michael (3)

Yukon 2019

Girls:

Ava, Isla, Livia, Quinn (3)

Boys:

Henry (4)
Charles, Jason, Leo, Noah, Oliver (3)

Nunavut 2015

The last we heard from Nunavut was in 2015, when there was a three-way tie for the top spot for both sexes.

Girls:

Anna, Samantha, Sarah

Boys:

Liam, Mason, Sandy

About the Author

Clare Green

Clare Green has been writing for Nameberry since 2015, covering everything from names peaking right now to feminist baby names, and keeping up-to-date with international baby name rankings. Her work has featured in publications such as The Independent and HuffPost. Clare has a background in linguistics and librarianship, and recently completed an MA dissertation researching names in multilingual families. She lives in England with her husband and son. You can reach her at clare@nameberry.com

View all of Clare Green's articles