Sunday January 4, 2026 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Each year the top names for babies born in British Columbia are announced at year-end.
The name Noah is back to the most popular name for boys (and a few girls) in 2025, as it was in 2022 and 2023.
In 2024 the top boy’s name was Oliver, a name that has been in the top 10 for several years in this province.
The top girl’s name in 2025 was Olivia, following that trend of the past few years.
Top names in 2025:
Listed as the top 10 names given to babies in BC in 2025 (up to Dec 15, 2025), the province releases that with tallies by gender:
- Noah: 204 (198 male, 6 female)
- Oliver: 174 (male)
- Theodore: 167 (male)
- Liam: 163 (male)
- Olivia: 159 (female)
- Charlotte: 148 (female)
- Jack: 139 (male)
- Henry: 135 (male)
- Sophia: 132 (female)
- James: 129 (male)
Also popular for boys’ names in 2025: Lucas (121), Leo (120), Levi (112), Hudson (108), Rowan (91), Charlie (68), and Owen (100).
Also popular for girl’s names in 2025: Isla (120), Amelia (118), Emma (112), Ava (105), Maya (102), Hazel (101), and Lily (99).
Back to 2024 and 2023:
In 2024 the top names were:
- Top 10 Names Given to Boys in 2024 in BC: Oliver, Liam, Noah, Theodore, Lucas, Leo, William, Henry, Ethan, Levi.
- Top 10 Names Given to Girls in 2024 in BC: Olivia, Charlotte, Isla, Amelia, Emma, Sophia, Chloe, Ava, Lily, Evelyn.
In 2023, the top names for babies born in B.C. were similar: Noah, Oliver, Olivia, Theodore, Liam, Jack, Emma, Sophia, Ethan and Leo.
Five times required:
Only names that occur five or more times are listed. Babies with brand new names don’t appear on the list; it may take a few years for those names to catch up.
New trends in the 21st century:
Last year, Island Social Trends did a deep dive on name analysis over the past 100 years. There are several new names that first appeared starting in the year 2000 and the list has been evolving since then.
In some cases the names reflect a broader multi-cultural background of BC’s population.
First names almost exclusively new to the 21st century list in BC for girls (as of Dec 31, 2024): Annabelle, Annika, Aria, Aurora, Avery, Camryn, Cora, Delilah, Ella, Ellie, Gemma, Gracie, Ivy, Kenzie, Lexi, Lily, Marley, Mia, Mila, Noelle, Nova, Olivia, Phoenix, Piper, Rhea, Rowan, Sage, Scarlett, Serenity, Sienna, Summer, Teagan, Trinity, and Willow.
Names popularized for boys in 2000 to 2024 (as of Dec 31, 2024): Aidan/Aiden, Armaan/Arman, Ashton, Avery, Ayden, Beau, Benson, *Bentley, Braxton, Caden/Kaden, Carter, Cooper, Dante, Darius, Dawson, Declan, Dominic, Dylan, Easton, Emmett, Ethan, Felix, Grayson, Griffin, Harrison, Hayden, Hudson, Hunter, Isaac, Isaiah, Jaden/Jaiden/Jayden, Jasper, Jaxson, Jonah, Jude, Kai/Kayden. Kian, Kingston, Kobe, Lachlan, Leo, Liam, Logan, Lucas, Mason, Micha, Noah, Oliver, Oscar, Owen, Parker, Paxton, Phoenix, Preston, River, Roman, Ronan, Rowan, Ryder, Rylan, Sawyer, Sebastian, Seth, Silas, Theo, and Zain/Zane.
Generations & technological influence:
These new babies born in 2025 are largely to Millennial or Generation Y parents (who were born 1981 to 1996 with computers but minimal digitized communication) and Gen-Z parents (themselves born within 1997 to 2012 in the new Internet generation).
The Alpha generation has just wrapped up (babies born 2013 to 2024; they have been born into a world of screen-tech fluency).
Starting 2025 we are seeing babies born into the Beta generation (born 2025 to 2039). This might be seen as the AI and automation generation.
Number of births:
In BC, more babies were born in 2025 than in each of 2020 to 2024, getting back up to the 2019 pre-pandemic level (but not as high as 2017 or 2018).
See: BC birth tally back up to pre-pandemic level in 2024 & 2025 (December 31, 2025)
Births in the Province of British Columbia, Canada [2017-2025]
| Year | Births in BC |
| 2025 | 41,557 (to Dec 15, 2025) |
| 2024 | 43,972 |
| 2023 | 41,403 |
| 2022 | 41,833 |
| 2021 | 42,783 |
| 2020 | 42,413 |
| 2019 | 43,878 |
| 2018 | 44,050 |
| 2017 | 45,045 |
| Date Source: Vital Statistics BC | Table by: Island Social Trends (Dec 31, 2025) |
===== RELATED:
- BC birth tally back up to pre-pandemic level in 2024 & 2025 (December 31, 2025)
- First three BC newborns of 2025 (January 2, 2025)
- BC baby name trends in the 21st century – 100-year analysis by Island Social Trends (January 1, 2025)
- Premier Eby vows to tackle ‘kitchen table issues’ in 2025 (December 31, 2024)
- Happy New Year 2025 to our readers, advertisers & supporters (December 30, 2024)
- Barbie movie displaces Kenneth as baby name (January 1, 2024)
- BC birth decline may continue in 2023 (December 28, 2023)
- BC Lottery Corp bets on baby name popularity (December 28, 2023)
- First baby of 2023 | Five-year birth tally decline (January 1, 2023)
- First baby of 2022, Olivia & Liam again popular names in BC (Jan 1, 2022)
- Top baby names in 2019 | Top baby names in 2018
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