🇨🇦 Most Popular Baby Names in Canada (2024)
Canada has no national naming statistic. Vital registration is a provincial matter, so the figures here are the sum of the three largest provinces that publish open data: Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, together about three quarters of the population. Read the ranking with that in mind. Two naming cultures pull at it, because Quebec carries a French Catholic tradition the English-speaking provinces do not share, and names that place well nationally are usually the ones that work in both.
Data source: Ontario, Quebec and BC vital statistics · Year: 2024 · 50 girl names, 50 boy names
Before you settle on a name, it helps to know what the register will accept. Baby naming rules in Canada: the legal basis, the deadline and what a registrar may refuse.
Names Used Only in Canada
Canada has 8 names in its 2024 ranking that appear in none of the other twelve countries on this site. Most European top tens have converged on the same handful of names over the past twenty years. These are the ones that stayed put.
Boys: 8 names
LoganEdouardNolanEmileJaydenCalebRyanWesley
2023 to 2024: What Moved
Set the two most recent rankings side by side and the movement is easy to read. Some names climbed, others slipped, and a few appeared or vanished outright.
Girls
Biggest climbers: Beatrice (#42 → #25, +17), Clara (#22 → #12, +10), Victoria (#33 → #23, +10), Elizabeth (#29 → #20, +9), Eva (#26 → #18, +8)
Biggest drops: Emily (#32 → #45, -13), Hazel (#36 → #49, -13), Isla (#17 → #27, -10), Luna (#28 → #37, -9), Aria (#24 → #29, -5)
New in the ranking: Ayla, Eliana, Aurora
Dropped out: Avery, Maeve, Layla
Boys
Biggest climbers: Raphael (#47 → #35, +12), Emile (#43 → #33, +10), Jules (#49 → #39, +10), Adam (#13 → #8, +5), Arthur (#18 → #13, +5)
Biggest drops: Mason (#36 → #48, -12), Owen (#22 → #29, -7), Alexander (#38 → #45, -7), Hudson (#34 → #40, -6), Jacob (#8 → #12, -4)
New in the ranking: Victor, Wesley
Dropped out: Aiden, Michael
Steady Through 2021–2024
Olivia tops the girl's ranking in Canada, and has done so 4 years running.
44 girls' names appear in every year from 2021–2024 without a gap. The 30 highest placed:
OliviaCharlotteEmmaSofiaAmeliaSophiaMiaAliceMilaChloeFlorenceClaraMayaLilyCharlieAvaNoraEvaZoeElizabethSophieEllieVictoriaEvelynBeatriceRoseIslaVioletAriaIsabella
Noah tops the boy's ranking in Canada, and has done so 4 years running.
43 boys' names appear in every year from 2021–2024 without a gap. The 30 highest placed:
NoahLiamLeoWilliamTheodoreJamesThomasAdamLucasBenjaminNathanJacobArthurTheoOliverJackLoganEthanHenryGabrielLouisLucaCharlesJacksonLeviMuhammadFelixSamuelOwenEdouard
👧 Most Popular Girl Names in Canada (2024)
#1OliviaLatin
Meaning: Olive tree
Olivia was first popularised by Shakespeare in Twelfth Night and is now consistently ranked among the top girl's names in the English-speaking world.
#2CharlotteGermanicFrench
Meaning: Free woman
Charlotte is the French feminine form of Charles, meaning free woman, and is a royal name borne by princesses in Britain, Sweden and Monaco.
#3EmmaGermanic
Meaning: Whole, universal
Emma is a Germanic name that was popular among medieval queens and has remained a top choice across Europe and North America for over a century.
#4SofiaGreek
Meaning: Wisdom
Sofia is the Slavic and southern European form of Sophia, meaning wisdom in Greek, and is the most popular girl's name in Italy and Spain.
#5AmeliaGermanic
Meaning: Work, industrious
Amelia is a blend of the Germanic Amalia and the Latin Aemilia, meaning industrious, and has been a top name in the UK and Australia for over a decade.
#6SophiaGreek
Meaning: Wisdom
Sophia is a timeless Greek name meaning wisdom, carried by Byzantine empresses and saints, and one of the most popular girl's names globally.
#7MiaHebrewScandinavian
Meaning: Mine; wished-for child
Mia began as a Scandinavian pet form of Maria and has become an international favourite, topping charts from Norway to the United States.
#8AliceGermanicFrench
Meaning: Noble kind
Alice is the French and English form of the Germanic Adalheidis, meaning noble kind, and became famous worldwide through Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.
#9MilaSlavic
Meaning: Gracious, dear
Mila began as a Slavic diminutive meaning gracious or dear and has spread widely across Europe and the Americas in recent decades.
#10ChloeGreek
Meaning: Blooming, verdant
#11FlorenceLatin
Meaning: Flowering, prospering
Florence comes from the Latin florens, meaning flowering or prospering. Florence Nightingale was named after the city where she was born and made it a girls' name in English.
#12ClaraLatin
Meaning: Clear, bright, famous
Clara is the Latin feminine form of Clarus, meaning clear or famous, and was the name of the 13th-century saint Clara of Assisi.
#13MayaGreekHebrew
Meaning: Several unrelated origins
Maya has more than one source. It is the Roman goddess Maia who gives her name to May, a Hebrew name connected with water, and separately a Sanskrit word for illusion.
#14LilyLatin
Meaning: Lily flower
#15CharlieGermanic
Meaning: Free woman
Charlie is used for girls as a short form of Charlotte, which descends through French from the Germanic karl meaning a free person.
#16AvaGermanicHebrew
Meaning: Life, bird-like
#17NoraLatinIrish
Meaning: Honour
Nora arose as a short form of Honora or Eleanor and has become an independently popular name across Ireland, Scandinavia and central Europe.
#18EvaHebrew
Meaning: Life
Eva is the Latin form of Eve, from the Hebrew chavah meaning to live or to breathe. In Genesis she is named as the mother of all living.
#19ZoeGreek
Meaning: Life
#20ElizabethHebrew
Meaning: My God is an oath
#21SophieGreek
Meaning: Wisdom
Sophie is the French form of Sophia and has been a popular name among European royal families, including those of Britain, Sweden and Greece.
#22EllieGreek
Meaning: Bright, shining
#23VictoriaLatin
Meaning: Victory
Victoria is the Latin word for victory and the name of a 19th-century British queen whose reign gave it enduring popularity across the world.
#24EvelynHebrewFrench
Meaning: Wished-for child
#25BeatriceLatin
Meaning: She who brings happiness
Beatrice comes from the Latin Beatrix, meaning she who makes happy. Dante's Beatrice guides him through paradise in the Divine Comedy.
#26RoseLatin
Meaning: Rose
Rose is the flower name, from the Latin rosa. In the Middle Ages it also absorbed Germanic names built on hros, meaning horse.
#27IslaScottish Gaelic
Meaning: From the river Isla
Isla is taken from the Scottish river Isla and the island of Islay. It became a common given name in Britain only in the last thirty years.
#28VioletLatin
Meaning: Violet flower
#29AriaItalian
Meaning: Air, song
#30IsabellaHebrewItalian
Meaning: My God is an oath
#31AbigailHebrew
Meaning: My father is joy
Abigail appears in the Books of Samuel as the wife of Nabal and later of David. The Hebrew joins av meaning father with a root meaning joy.
#32JuliaLatin
Meaning: Youthful
Julia is the feminine form of the ancient Roman family name Julius and has been popular across Europe since the Renaissance.
#33JulietteLatin
Meaning: From the Julius family
Juliette is a French diminutive of Julie, from the Roman family name Julius. Shakespeare's Juliet fixed it in the European imagination.
#34EleanorGreekFrench
Meaning: Bright, shining
Eleanor is of Old French and Old Provençal origin, meaning bright or shining, and has been borne by queens of England, France and Castile.
#35LiviaLatin
Meaning: From the Livius family
Livia is the feminine of the Roman family name Livius. Livia Drusilla was the wife of Augustus and one of the most powerful women of the early empire.
#36EllaGermanic
Meaning: All, completely
Ella developed as a short form of Eleanor or Elisabeth and has surged in popularity across Europe and North America since the early 2000s.
#37LunaLatin
Meaning: Moon
Luna is the Latin name for the moon goddess and has risen rapidly in popularity across Europe and North America since the 2010s.
#38HannahHebrew
Meaning: Grace, favour
Hannah is the original Hebrew form of the name Anna, meaning grace or favour, and appears in the Bible as the mother of the prophet Samuel.
#39ElenaGreek
Meaning: Bright, shining
#40LeaHebrew
Meaning: Weary
Lea is the German and Scandinavian spelling of Leah, the biblical name meaning weary in Hebrew, today popular across central and northern Europe.
#41RomyLatin
Meaning: Rosemary, or from Rome
Romy began as a German pet form of Rosemarie and is also read as a feminine of Roman. The actress Romy Schneider carried it into wide use.
#42EmiliaLatin
Meaning: Rival, industrious
Emilia derives from the Latin Aemilia, the name of an ancient Roman family, and has been among the most popular girl's names in Austria and Germany for years.
#43AylaTurkishHebrew
Meaning: Moonlight, or oak wood
Ayla is a Turkish name meaning halo or moonlight, from ay meaning moon. It is also read as a Hebrew name meaning oak, and separately as a Scottish place name.
#44ElianaHebrew
Meaning: My God has answered
Eliana is read in Hebrew as joining el meaning God with a root meaning to answer. A separate Latin Aeliana, from the Roman family name Aelius, shares the spelling.
#45EmilyLatin
Meaning: Rival, industrious
#46RosalieLatin
Meaning: Rose
Rosalie is a French form of Rosalia, from the Latin rosa. Saint Rosalia is the patron of Palermo.
#47AuroraLatin
Meaning: Dawn
Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn; the name has been popular in Italy and Spain for generations and is now rising across northern Europe.
#48IvyEnglish
Meaning: Ivy
Ivy is the English plant name, from the Old English ifig. It joined the Victorian fashion for flower and plant names.
#49HazelEnglish
Meaning: Hazelnut tree
Hazel is an English nature name referring to the hazelnut tree, part of the modern trend for botanical names, popular in the UK and USA.
#50SarahHebrew
Meaning: Princess
👦 Most Popular Boy Names in Canada (2024)
#1NoahHebrew
Meaning: Rest, comfort
Noah is a Hebrew name meaning rest or comfort, famous as the biblical patriarch who built the ark, and the most popular boy's name across much of Europe.
#2LiamIrishGermanic
Meaning: Resolute protector
Liam is the Irish short form of William, meaning resolute protector, and has been the most popular boy's name in the USA and Canada for over a decade.
#3LeoLatin
Meaning: Lion
Leo is the Latin word for lion and the name of thirteen popes, making it both a timeless classic and a modern favourite across Europe.
#4WilliamGermanic
Meaning: Resolute protector
William comes from the Germanic Willahelm, meaning resolute protector, and remains one of the most enduring royal names in the English-speaking world.
#5TheodoreGreek
Meaning: Gift of God
Theodore is derived from the Greek Theodoros, meaning gift of God, and has seen a remarkable revival in the UK, USA and Australia.
#6JamesHebrew
Meaning: Supplanter
James is the English form of the Late Latin Jacomus, derived from the Hebrew Jacob, meaning supplanter, and has been borne by six kings of Scotland.
#7ThomasAramaic
Meaning: Twin
#8AdamHebrew
Meaning: Earth, man
#9LucasLatinGreek
Meaning: Bringer of light
Lucas is the Latin form of Luke, meaning bringer of light, and ranks highly across Europe and the Americas.
#10BenjaminHebrew
Meaning: Son of the right hand
Benjamin is a Hebrew name meaning son of the right hand, the youngest son of Jacob in the Bible, and a perennial favourite across Europe.
#11NathanHebrew
Meaning: He gave
#12JacobHebrew
Meaning: Supplanter
Jacob is the third patriarch of Genesis, who takes his brother Esau's birthright. The Hebrew Yaakov is traditionally read from the word for heel, hence one who supplants.
#13ArthurCeltic
Meaning: Bear
Arthur is of Celtic origin, possibly meaning bear, and was the name of the legendary British king whose stories have captivated Europe for centuries.
#14TheoGreek
Meaning: Gift of God
Theo is a short form of Theodore, from the Greek theos meaning god and doron meaning gift. It is now given as a full name across most of Europe.
#15OliverLatinNorse
Meaning: Olive tree
Oliver has Norse and Latin roots linked to the olive tree and ancestor-descendants, and has been the top boy's name in England and Wales for several years.
#16JackHebrewEnglish
Meaning: God is gracious
Jack began as a medieval English pet form of John and is now one of the most popular boy's names in England, Ireland and Australia.
#17LoganScottish Gaelic
Meaning: Little hollow
#18EthanHebrew
Meaning: Firm, enduring
Ethan appears in the Hebrew Bible as a name for wise men, and the root means firm, solid or enduring. Its modern currency began in the United States.
#19HenryGermanic
Meaning: Home ruler
Henry is the English form of the Germanic Heimirich, meaning home ruler, and has been borne by eight kings of England.
#20GabrielHebrew
Meaning: God is my strength
Gabriel is the Hebrew name of the archangel who announced the birth of Jesus, meaning God is my strength, popular across southern Europe and Latin America.
#21LouisGermanicFrench
Meaning: Renowned warrior
#22LucaLatinItalian
Meaning: Bringer of light
Luca is the Italian form of Luke, meaning bringer of light in Greek, and is among the most popular boy's names in Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
#23CharlesGermanic
Meaning: Free man
Charles comes from the Germanic karl, meaning a free man as distinct from a serf. Charlemagne turned it into one of the standard names of European monarchy.
#24JacksonEnglish
Meaning: Son of Jack
#25LeviHebrew
Meaning: Joined, attached
#26MuhammadArabic
Meaning: Praiseworthy
Muhammad is the most common given name in the world, borne by the founder of Islam, meaning praiseworthy in Arabic.
#27FelixLatin
Meaning: Happy, fortunate
Felix is a Latin name meaning happy or fortunate and was borne by four popes and numerous early Christian saints.
#28SamuelHebrew
Meaning: Name of God; God has heard
Samuel is a Hebrew name meaning name of God or God has heard, and was the last of the great judges of Israel in the Old Testament.
#29OwenWelshLatin
Meaning: Young warrior; well-born
#30EdouardEnglish
Meaning: Guardian of wealth
Edouard is the French form of Edward, joining the Old English ead meaning wealth with weard meaning guardian. It remains common in French-speaking Canada.
#31NolanIrish
Meaning: Champion
#32DanielHebrew
Meaning: God is my judge
#33EmileLatin
Meaning: Rival, eager
Emile is the French form of the Roman family name Aemilius, from aemulus meaning rival. Rousseau's Émile of 1762 made it a name associated with education.
#34MaverickEnglish
Meaning: Independent, unbranded
Maverick comes from Samuel Maverick, a nineteenth-century Texas rancher who left his cattle unbranded. His surname became the word for an unbranded animal and then for an independent person.
#35RaphaelHebrew
Meaning: God has healed
#36IsaacHebrew
Meaning: He will laugh
#37JaydenHebrew
Meaning: Thankful
#38ElliotHebrew
Meaning: My God is the Lord
Elliot began as a medieval English surname derived from Elias, the Greek form of Elijah, from the Hebrew meaning my God is Yahweh. It returned as a first name in the twentieth century.
#39JulesLatin
Meaning: From the Julius family
Jules is the French form of Julius, an old Roman family name. It is used in France and French-speaking Canada as a name in its own right.
#40HudsonEnglish
Meaning: Son of Hudd
#41CalebHebrew
Meaning: Dog, faithful
#42RyanIrish
Meaning: Little king
#43ElijahHebrew
Meaning: My God is Yahweh
Elijah is the Hebrew original of Elias, meaning my God is Yahweh, and is currently one of the fastest-rising boy's names in the United States.
#44MatteoHebrewItalian
Meaning: Gift of God
Matteo is the Italian form of Matthew, meaning gift of God in Hebrew, and has been the most popular boy's name in Austria for multiple years.
#45AlexanderGreek
Meaning: Defender of men
Alexander is the Latinised form of the Greek Alexandros, meaning defender of men, and was the name of the Macedonian king who conquered the ancient world.
#46VictorLatin
Meaning: Conqueror
#47WesleyEnglish
Meaning: Western meadow
Wesley is an English place name and surname, from the Old English west and leah meaning clearing or meadow. John Wesley, founder of Methodism, turned it into a given name.
#48MasonEnglish
Meaning: Stone worker
#49MilesLatinGermanic
Meaning: Soldier; mild
#50MateoHebrewSpanish
Meaning: Gift of God
Mateo is the Spanish form of Matthew, meaning gift of God in Hebrew, and is currently one of the fastest-rising names in the USA and Spain.
Data: Ontario, Quebec and BC vital statistics. Rankings reflect official birth registrations for 2024. Retrieved automatically each week from the open data portals of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia and summed. A year is only shown once at least two provinces have reported it. Browse all countries →