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It’s the first decision parents get to make for their babies: the name.

It seems as if William Shakespeare’s phrase, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” isn’t the case when naming a child.

It’s daunting, exhilarating and can be exhausting.

This morning, the Social Security Association announced the most popular names for babies born in 2017. While many of the most popular names stayed the same, the state-by-state breakdown reveals some interesting trends.

In the U.S., the top three names for girls remain unchanged from last year, Emma is the most popular, followed by Olivia and Ava.

In Oregon, the most popular name for girls in 2017 was also Emma, but closely followed by Olivia. To the 208 recorded Emmas in Oregon, 207 baby girls were named Olivia—pretty close. The third most popular name in Oregon for girls was (game-changer) Sophia.

For boys the nation’s three most popular names were Liam, Noah and William. Oregon parents didn’t follow those trends; Oliver was the most popular name in the state, for the second year in a row. Oh Oliver! Sweet, lovely and a little quirky– if you ask me.

In Oregon, the other popular names included Liam, Henry and Benjamin. Which is so close to the popular names from last year, except the name William was in the third slot in 2016.

Who knows what names will be given to the babies in 2018.

This article appears in May 16-23, 2018.

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Name Game: Most Popular Baby Names

by Danielle Meyers, The Source - Bend, Oregon
May 17, 2018

<h1>Name Game: Most Popular Baby Names</h1> <p class="byline">by Danielle Meyers, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />May 17, 2018</p> <p><h4 class="content_h4">It's the first decision parents get to make for their babies: the name. </h4> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full aligncenter aligncenter"><a href="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_0079-scaled.webp"><img src="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_0079-scaled.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-38171" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">What's his name going to be? Local parents, Amanda and Brady Anderson, chose the name Charlie.</figcaption></figure> <h4 class="content_h4"></h4> <p> It seems as if William Shakespeare's phrase, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” isn't the case when naming a child.</p> <p>It’s daunting, exhilarating and can be exhausting. </p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full aligncenter aligncenter"><a href="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_0306-scaled.webp"><img src="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_0306-scaled.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-38176" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The most popular girl name in the U.S., and in Oregon, was Emma in 2017—but this local baby is named Novalie.</figcaption></figure> <p> This morning, the Social Security Association announced the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/" target="_blank">most popular names</a> for babies born in 2017. While many of the most popular names stayed the same, the state-by-state breakdown reveals some interesting trends.</p> <p>In the U.S., the top three names for girls remain unchanged from last year, Emma is the most popular, followed by Olivia and Ava.</p> <p>In Oregon, the most popular name for girls in 2017 was also Emma, but closely followed by Olivia. To the 208 recorded Emmas in Oregon, 207 baby girls were named Olivia—pretty close. The third most popular <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/namesbystate.cgi" target="_blank">name in Oregon</a> for girls was (game-changer) Sophia.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full aligncenter aligncenter"><a href="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_0274-scaled.webp"><img src="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_0274-scaled.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-38175" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">"I know your name!" says local little one Novalie Anderson to Kai Sabadin.</figcaption></figure> <p> For boys the nation's three most popular names were Liam, Noah and William. Oregon parents didn’t follow those trends; Oliver was the most popular name in the state,&nbsp;for the second year in a row. Oh Oliver! Sweet, lovely and a little quirky– if you ask me.</p> <p>In Oregon, the other popular names included Liam, Henry and Benjamin. Which is so close to the popular names from last year, except the name William was in the third slot in 2016.</p> <p>Who knows what names will be given to the babies in 2018.</p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/culture/name-game-most-popular-baby-names-6010818/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=38155&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/culture/name-game-most-popular-baby-names-6010818/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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