Saturday January 1, 2022 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, editor | Island Social Trends
The first baby born in BC in 2022 is a six-pound, six-ounce baby boy born at 12:04 a.m. at Victoria General Hospital to parents Shawna White, 36, and her fiance Ishmael Grimwood, 34.
There was a COVID outbreak at Victoria General Hospital on the general medicine floor in unit 4B, announced by Island Health on New Year’s Eve. But assurances are that the rest of the hospital is safe.
First-born baby of the year:
For some reason that’s a tradition in mainstream media, to offer fame to the firstborn of each new year. Certainly it gives everyone an opportunity to reflect on the cycle of life.
First born babies of the calendar year are Capricorn by astrological sun sign (disposed to positions of social authority). Being born on the first implies an opportunity for leadership.
Babies born this winter are arriving during the Omicron wave of the ongoing COVID pandemic.
Fewer babies during pandemic:
BC Health says 40,333 babies were born in BC in 2021 (up to December 15, 2021). In 2020 there were 42,413 babies born in British Columbia.
About 40,000 babies are expected in 2022 as the pandemic continues to have family impacts.
In pre-pandemic years, the number of babies born in BC was higher: 43,878 in 2019, 44,050 in 2018, and 45,045 in 2017. In those years the economy was relatively stable if not fully robust.
The pandemic was officially declared in mid-March 2020.
Baby names in BC:
Baby names have been pretty consistent over the past few years in BC, with Olivia and Oliver in the top ranks.
Olivia is once again the front-runner for the most popular name for babies born in 2021 in BC. That’s followed by Liam, Noah, Jack, Emma, Benjamin, Theodore, Oliver and Charlotte. All of that from Vital Statistics Agency preliminary figures for January 1 to December 15, 2021.
In both 2020 and in 2019 in BC, the most popular baby name for girls has been Olivia, with Emma coming in second in both years. In 2020 the name Liam was the most popular for boys, with Oliver coming second (in 2019 Oliver was first).
For nine of the past 10 years, Olivia has been among the favourite names for babies born in BC, according to BC Vital Statistics.
A few years ago the BC Government started reporting names in order by prevalence first (only names that occur five or more times are listed), and not separating them by usual gender assignment (i.e. girls and boys).
===== PREVIOUS ARTICLES by Island Social Trends:
New year’s baby just hours away (Dec 31, 2020) | Top baby names in 2019 | Top baby names in 2018
