British Columbian Baby Girl Alternatives (2009)

B.C. Baby Boys can be found here. Again, I've used the BC Vital Statistics Agency website to compile the top 50 most popular names for baby boys in B.C. for 2009. I've added up variations in spelling to try to keep things consistent. I'm aiming for keeping the feel and spirit of the name.

2009 Baby Girls in B.C.

1. Sophia - Delphina
2. Olivia - Ophelia
3. Ava - Vera
4. Emma - Edna
5. Emily - Anneliese
6. Chloe - Daphne
7. Isabella - Isadora
8. Maya/Mia - Mina
9. Hannah - Aviva
10. Lily - Isis
11. Kaitlyn - Carolyn
12. Ella - Etta
13. Grace - Rae
14. Sophie - Persephone
15. Abigail - Arielle
16. Alexis - Amaryllis
17. Madison - Marilyn
18. Sarah - Zora
19. Kaylee - Kalani
20. Madeleine - Matilda
21. Hailey - Ainsley
22. Brooklyn - Rhiannon
23. Zoe - Zephyr
24. Keira - Moira
25. Peyton - Arden
26. Makayla - Karina
27. Avery - Embry
28. Charlotte - Winifred
29. Claire - Blanche
30. Elizabeth - Eleanor
31. Taylor - Briar
32. Isabelle - Jezebel
33. Anna - Sana
34. Julia - Josephine
35. Sydney - Cecily
36. Sienna - Indigo
37. Addison - Adrienne
38. Lauren - Lenore
39. Jasmine - Jessamine
40. Mackenzie - Everly
41. Amelia - Aurelia
42. Paige - Sage
43. Danica - Marika
44. Natalie - Nadine
45. Alyssa - Larissa
46. Riley - Bryony
47. Samantha - Susannah
48. Arianna - Tatiana
49. Leah - Lyra
50. Isla - Willa

How do you think I did?

British Columbian Baby Boy Alternatives

I'm going to start on the West Coast and work my way across the country, suggesting alternatives for popular names in each province. I've used the BC Vital Statistics Agency website to compile the top 50 most popular names for baby boys in B.C. for 2009. I've added up variations in spelling to try to keep things consistent.

I tried to pick names that I thought kept the feel or spirit of the popular name, but were far less common.

2009 Baby Boys in B.C.

1. Ethan - Osbourne
2. Liam - Willis
3. Jacob - Jared
4. Aiden - Amos
5. Lucas - Seamus
6. Jackson - Samson
7. Matthew - Bartholomew
8. Logan - Kieran
9. Alexander - Alistair
10. Jayden - Leon
11. Noah - Noel
12. Kayden - Calvin
13. Benjamin - Peregrine
14. Nathan - Neville
15. Owen - Rowan
16. Ryan - Robin
17. Joshua - Phineas
18. Nicholas - Nikolai
19. William - Wesley
20. Mason - Archer
21. Daniel - Dimitri
22. James - Arthur
23. Jack - Pax
24. Oliver - Cornelius
25. Evan - Ewan
26. Samuel - Saul
27. Carter - Carver
28. Dylan - Dwayne
28. Caleb - Cyril
29. Tristan - Terrance
30. Gavin - Garren
31. Connor - Luther
32. Isaac - Isaiah
33. Ryder - Rhys
34. Hunter - Huxley
35. Andrew - Lewis/Louis
36. Brayden - Bronte
37. Brandon - Byron
38. Cole - Clark
39. Tyler - Tybalt
40. Landon - Madrid
41. David - Drake
42. Luke - Zeke
43. Chase - Graham
44. Gabriel - Castiel
45. Michael - Rafael/Raphael
46. Adam - Abraham
47. Zachary - Timothy
48. Wyatt - Emmett
49. Thomas - Thaddeus
50. Austin - Augustine


B.C. baby girl names to follow. Eta: Here.

Windsor Newborns

It's a Boy!
Alexander Lucas (sister Olivia)
Andrew (sister Olivia)
Andrew Joseph x2
Carson Wayne (brother Coleton Russell)
Carter David Samuel (brother Holden)
Conor (sister Isabella)
Jack Riley (brother Blake)
Luca Franco Mario
Lucas Vincent
Max (brother Jack)
Maxim Pietro
Nicholas Fen
Ryan Michael
Trenton John (brother Troy)

It's a Girl!
Ada Lillian (sister Alice)
Alexia Marianna (Amanda & Alessandra)
Alexis Ann
Arianna Elena (sister Alessia)
Brooke Elizabeth (sisters Carissa & Tara)
Callie Grace
Ceci Suzanne (siblings Jack & Mary)
Charlotte Grace (brother Gavin)
Charlotte Laurel
Grace Joanne (siblings Timmy, Jack & Max)
Grace Savannah (brother Haiden)
Julia Rose (brother Jacob)
Julia Tasia (sister Anna)
Kayleigh Marie (sisters Destinee & Kirsten)
Madison Rose Patricia (brother Jacob)
Rachael Lee
Rachel Sarah (brothers Nathaniel & Justin)
Rhyen Rose
Ryleigh Jane
Silvana (brother Alessandro)
Stella Abigail (brother Jagger)
Tessa Olivia (brothers Adam & Lucas)
Zoey Tiffany (brothers Joshua & Zechariah)

It's Twins!
Aiden George & Andrew Louis
Alexander Daniel & Emma Nicole

Not many surprises, but I really love Trenton. Ada Lillian is beautiful and Ceci Suzanne is gorgeous and unexpected. I also really love the family that named their kids Alessandro and Silvano - so pretty.

Feature Baby Name: Maple

She's the name of a type of tree, which gives us leaves, syrup and sugar. Several scrumptious treats bear her name. She's even got a major league hockey team! And, of course, she's the iconic symbol of our nation's flag.

Today's feature name is Maple.

I first encountered Maple in the Toronto Star, where every week they would feature a baby name that was either unusual in itself or had an unusual back story. They haven't updated in a while, which is a shame because I've encountered some favourites through the series.

Maple is gorgeous. It's stylistically similiar to the retro Mabel, without the possibility of being called a grandma name. And with flower names like Lily, Iris and Magnolia, why not a tree name?

I also love the possibilities for nicknames. I can just see affectionately calling a little girl "Maple Sugar." As well, she could shorten it to Mae when she's older if she likes.

I love the pure Canadian spirit of this name. Do you?

London Newborns

It's a Boy!
Cayden Michael (brothers Ethan and Ronan)
Creegan Joseph
Daniel Jaxsen (sister Teresa)
Logan Douglas
Nathan Ryan

It's a Girl!
Jane Victoria
Kali (sister River)
Olivia Dawn
Sydney Lucille
Temperance (Tess) Lauren Victoria (sisters Julia, Adelaide & Elliott)

I think Creegan is a really neat name, not one I've seen before. I really like some of the sibling names too: Ronan and Teresa especially.

What do you mean, Samuel's a top ten name?

Continuing the investigation of how naming trends in 2009 compared in Canada and the U.S. See the look at the girls here. (Thanks again to Today's Parent.)

The Gents
1 Ethan (2)
2 Jacob, Jakob (1)
3 Nathan (24)
4 William (5)
5 Alexander, Alexandre (4)
6 Noah (9)
7 Matthew, Mathieu (13)
8 Samuel (27)
9 Benjamin (20)
10 Lucas, Lukas (39)
11 Joshua (6)
12 Gabriel (22)
13 Liam (49)
14 Logan (17)
15 Nicholas, Nikolas (32)
16 Ryan (19)
17 Daniel (7)
18 Owen (51)
19 Thomas (57)
20 Evan (35)
21 Jaiden, Jayden (8)
22 Jack (42)
23 Aidan, Aiden (12)
24 Adam (74)
25 Alex, Alexis (83)
26 Michael (3)
27 Anthony (10)
28 Zachary (53)
29 Oliver, Olivier (98)
30 James (18)
31 Dylan (29)
32 Mathias, Mattias (786)
33 Andrew (15)
34 Felix (339)
35 Xavier (68)
36 Tyler (28)
37 Justin (46)
38 Antoine (794)
39 Cameron (59)
40 Tristan (80)
41 Maxim (735)
42 Raphael (634)
43 Elliot (297)
44 Charles (64)
45 Vincent (119)
46 Emile (not in top 1000)
47 David (14)
48 Jeremy (139)
49 Isaac (40)
50 Simon (263)
51 Edward, Edouard (137)
52 Austen, Austin (63)
53 Carter (50)
54 Mason (34)
55 Jordan (45)
56 Julian, Julien (62)
57 Christopher (11)
58 Conner, Connor (52)
59 Hunter (56)
60 Cole (82)
61 Riley (107)
62 Kayden (103)
63 Hayden (91)
64 Brodie, Brody (77)
65 Jonathan (30)
66 Caleb, Kaleb (31)
67 Victor (117)
68 Brandon (38)
69 Jackson (25)
70 Gavin (33)
71 Joseph (16)
72 Kevin (44)
73 Damian, Damien (127)
74 Jason (66)
75 Brayden, Braydon (47)
76 Henri, Henry (71)
77 Luke (48)
78 Wyatt (60)
79 Tyson (238)
80 Dominic, Dominick (81)
81 Nolan (122)
82 Jaxon (126)
83 Seth (140)
84 Eric, Erik (95)
85 Parker (96)
86 Cohen (323)
87 Carson (86)
88 Marcus (123)
89 Rylan (195)
90 Blake (89)
91 Aaron (54)
92 Kyle (100)
93 Nathaniel (76)
94 Levi (88)
95 Elijah (21)
96 Ryder (145)
97 Chase (61)
98 Brady (109)
99 Colton (93)
100 Cooper (84)

On the whole, the discrepancies between the two boys lists aren't that large, especially not when compared to the girls. In fact, most of the names in the top 100 are at least in the top 200 in the U.S. This isn't surprising as parents generally take more risks with girls names, and the most popular girls' names generally account for a smaller percentage than the most popular boys' names.

With that said, there are still some large differences. If you don't mind a top 100 name but wanted to keep it out of the top 25, you could still use Christopher, Joseph or Elijah, which are much more popular in the U.S. than in Canada (11 vs 57; 16 vs 71; and 21 vs 95 respectively). Elliot, Simon and Tyson are all out of the top 200 in the U.S. but top 100 here. Felix and Cohen are generally considered obscure, but are surprisingly in the top 100 in Canada. And Antoine, Mathias, Maxim and Raphael are all top 50, although they're not top 500 across the border. Emile is the only name not to rank across the border, but I suspect it's largely the result of Quebec, so not that surprising.

You can really see the difference between the two countries in terms of the names that AREN'T in the top 100 in Canada (and how they can be classified).

Spanish Favourites (We have our French names)
Angel
Carlos
Diego
Jesus
Jose
Josiah
Juan
Luis
Miguel

Biblical Names
Christian
Eli
Isaiah
Jeremiah

Other
Adrian
Brian/Bryan
Ian
John
Landon
Robert
Sean
Sebastian

I really love Sebastian, so it's a bit of a relief to see that it's not in the top 100 here. I also like Eli, Miguel, Christian and Robert. I'm shocked at the exclusion of John. I wonder how far out of the top 100 it is.

What do you mean, Hannah's a top ten name?

If you're like a lot of Canadians looking at names, either expecting a little one or imagining that one day you will, you probably find it difficult to track down the Canadian data. B.C. has official stats, but most of Canada is just one giant question mark. It's much easier to pop over to the SSA website and see what the naming trends are across the border. Sure, it's not exact, but you figure that the two cultures are similar enough that there probably aren't any huge differences. For the most part, that's true. Emma, Emily, Olivia, Sophia...Jacob, William, Ethan, Alexander...they pepper both top tens. Business as usual.

So you, wanting a completely unusual name for your daughter, pick Coralie. You search it at the SSA and discover how very original you are. It's not even in the top 1000! Sure, Cora is ranked #303, but the names are different enough and that's low enough in the rankings that it doesn't bother you. So you name your daughter...and discover she's going by "Coralie G." at school. Why? It's ranked #57 in Canada.

Be warned the cultural differences! They do still exist. Here are the top 100 for Canada with the names' rankings in the U.S. (Thanks to Today's Parent.)

Note that the Canadian rankings group variations in spelling whereas the American rankings do not. I've chosen the highest ranking variation for comparing.

Ladies First
1 Emma (2)
2 Emily (6)
3 Olivia (3)
4 Sophia, Sofia (4)
5 Sara, Sarah (21)
6 Ava (5)
7 Maya, Mia, Mya (10)
8 Hannah (23)
9 Chloe (9)
10 Abigail (8)
11 Madison (7)
12 Isabella, Izabella (1)
13 Sophie, Sofie (65)
14 Ella (14)
15 Elisabeth, Elizabeth (11)
16 Hailey (25)
17 Julia (50)
18 Lilly, Lily (18)
19 Grace (17)
20 Alyssa (19)
21 Charlotte (68)
22 Victoria (31)
23 Megan (105)
24 Lea, Leah (28)
25 Samantha (15)
26 Avery (32)
27 Lauren (46)
28 Naomi, Noemie (107)
29 Addison (12)
30 Jessica (78)
31 Sydney (48)
32 Gabrielle (96)
33 Zoe, Zoey (47)
34 Rachael (90)
35 Eva (99)
36 Brooklyn, Brooklynn (37)
37 Jade (129)
38 Florence (not in top 1000)
39 Rosalie (840)
40 Taylor (22)
41 Laurence (not in top 1000)
42 Jasmine (51)
43 Juliet, Juliette (319)
44 Maika (not in 1000)
45 Alexandra (69)
46 Payton, Peyton (43)
47 Camille (287)
48 Brooke (54)
49 Alexia (220)
50 Isabelle, Isobel (100)
51 Amelia (55)
52 Laurie (not in top 1000)
53 Jada (113)
54 Alexis (13)
55 Annabelle (156)
56 Alice (258)
57 Coralie (not in top 1000)
58 Elodie (not in top 1000)
59 Oceane (not in top 1000)
60 Justine (not in top 1000)
61 Maelie (not in top 1000)
62 Kayla (35)
63 Marianne (not in top 1000)
64 Clair, Claire, Clare (53)
65 Rebecca, Rebekah (132)
66 Claira, Clara (199)
67 Anna (29)
68 Kaitlin, Katelyn (67)
69 Sadie (111)
70 Amy (130)
71 Paige (97)
72 Madeleine, Madelyn (59)
73 Allison, Alyson (30)
74 Natalie, Nathalie (16)
75 Mackenzie (77)
76 Faith (80)
77 Danica, Danicka (379)
78 Nevaeh (34)
79 Siena, Sienna (196)
80 Breanna, Brianna (24)
81 Kate (159)
82 Savannah (40)
83 Ashley, Ashleigh (20)
84 Lara, Laura (235)
85 Catherine, Katherine (60)
86 Kaylee (26)
87 Lydia (118)
88 Gabriela, Gabriella (33)
89 Summer (175)
90 Jordan (150)
91 Alexa (42)
92 Autumn (81)
93 Ariana, Arianna (52)
94 Hayden (131)
95 Keira (140)
96 Isla (346)
97 Angelina (86)
98 Cassidy (244)
99 Amanda (166)
100 Amber (186)

So quite a few differences there. Sarah and Hannah are both top ten names here, as opposed to being in the 20s in the U.S. Gabrielle is more popular than Gabriella in Canada, while the reverse is true in the United States. Naomi and Clara aren't in the top 100 in the U.S. Camille, Cassidy and Alice aren't in the top 200. While Isla and Danica aren't in the top 300. Rosalie barely even charts there (840), while its top 50 here. But the biggest difference I think is all of the names that don't even rank in the U.S. which are top 100 names here: Coralie, Elodie, Florence, Justine, Laurence, Laurie, Maelie, Maika, Marianne, Oceane. Now I suspect that Quebec is responsible for several of these, but it's still worth being aware of.

There are also several names that you might think are too popular to use. If you're trying to avoid a top 100 name, but love one of the following names, you're in luck. These names are only top-100 in the USA. So even if you want a less common name, you can still use them if you'd like:

Aaliyah
Andrea
Aubrey
Audrey
Bailey
Caroline
Destiny
Evelyn
Gianna
Genesis
Jocelyn
Kimberly
Kylie
Layla
Lillian
Makayla
Maria
Mariah
Melanie
Molly
Morgan
Riley
Serenity
Trinity
Valeria
Vanessa

Personally, I love Audrey, Aubrey, Evelyn, Lillian, Jocelyn, Vanessa and Gianna. I wish I knew just how far out of the top 100 they are.

The boys names will follow in a separate post. [ETA: Here.]