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.]
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