Baby Name Trends for 2026: What the US Data Shows

This article looks at which names are gaining and losing ground going into 2026. It uses the US Social Security Administration’s national records, which count the names of nearly every baby born in the United States. The newest year in the data this site uses is 2024, so trends are measured over ten years (2014 to 2024) and over the last two (2022 to 2024). Ranks are among babies of the same sex.

Still rising going into 2026

These names were climbing fastest within the top 200 at the end of the data, which makes them the likeliest to be more common in 2026.

Name	Rank 2022	Rank 2024	Babies 2024
Lainey	174	38	5,147
Wrenley	285	149	1,982
Vivienne	305	184	1,633
Evangeline	266	174	1,741
Tatum (boys)	318	195	1,833
Callum	249	159	2,258
Stetson	238	155	2,328
Thiago	108	55	5,289
Enzo	121	74	4,548

Celeste, Daphne and Hallie for girls, and Hayes and Emilio for boys, also rose by more than 40 places.

The vintage revival, ten years on

The biggest long-term climbers are old names.

Name	Rank 2014	Rank 2024	Babies 2024
Theodore	126	4	12,011
Hazel	105	19	6,401
Penelope	43	28	5,741
Otto	630	274	1,239
Ezra	119	13	8,774

Theodore is still rising: 10th in 2022, 7th in 2023 and 4th in 2024. Hazel has levelled off, at 18th in 2023 and 19th in 2024.

Nature names: some are cooling

Aurora kept climbing (31st in 2022, 16th in 2024), but several nature names that rose through the 2010s have stalled. Luna slipped from 10th to 13th, Willow from 37th to 41st, and River has hovered between 105th and 116th for boys.

International names: a mixed picture

Luca climbed from 185th in 2014 to 23rd in 2024, and Thiago and Enzo are among the fastest risers above. Diego fell from 129th to 145th over the decade, and Layla slipped from 29th to 37th. Sakura remains rare in the US, with 55 babies in 2024.

Unisex names

The share of babies given a name used for both sexes (at least 10% each way) rose from 7.7% in 2014 to 9.6% in 2024. Individual names vary: Kai rose from 177th to 59th for boys by 2022 but fell back to 76th in 2024, while Sage has held steady around 145th for girls. Our unisex names list has more.

Using trend data

A name that is rising now will be more common among your child’s classmates in a few years. If you want something distinctive, compare current ranks rather than how familiar a name feels. If you like a name anyway, popularity is a poor reason to give it up.