Here's how once-popular baby names in BC compare decades later
Statistics Canada has released its annual list of the top baby names in Canada for 2023, and it got us thinking about what happened to the top baby names of years past and how they compare to today.
Did you grow up in the ’90s? Chances are, if you went to school in BC, you had a lot of Christophers, Michaels, Matthews, Jennifers, Amandas, Ashleys, and Jessicas in your class, according to the BC government’s Most Popular Baby Names ranking.
However, the graduating class of 2041 will likely include Noahs, Emmas, Liams, Olivers, and Sophias more than any others, and there might be one Christopher—maybe—within the entire school.
The same goes for the name Jessica, which peaked in 1990 and then dropped in popularity in the years following. The days of Jessica S., Jessica P., Jessica R., etc., seem to be long gone in the 21st century.
While we know that names can come and go in popularity (Elizabeths, we see you), we discovered there’s a tool to find out exactly when your name might have lost the love, and it can be downright depressing.
On the BC Government’s Health Extranet, you can compare the popularity of baby names, and we looked at a few to see where they used to be and where they are now.
Christopher, for example, was the name chosen for 650 babies in 1980, but only about 20 babies were named Christopher last year. Did the Christopher name lose its charm over time or did a few bad apples ruin the name for the next generation? Of course, we can only guess.
BC Government Health Extranet
Christine went from above 100 names annually from the 1950s until a sudden decline in 1986, and it has since continued to decline until 2019 when it actually fell off the BC record books due to lack of popularity.
Interestingly, while Mohammed is the most popular name in the world, in BC, it (and the variable spellings) has never competed with the Noahs and the Olivias. Looking at the last four decades, the name has rarely been seen above 20.
BC Government
It’s important to note that the list wouldn’t include babies named outside Canada and doesn’t include names with fewer than five. We can see that Marvin and Quinton are among the lowest in popularity for names this year, for example, but we can’t see the actual least popular names of all where no babies were named that, or only one or two.
In case you Simpsons fans were curious, we looked it up, and there are no records of any Borts in BC, so that explains the lack of Bort licence plates in the gift shop.
Want to compare your name? Head here.