Here Are NYC's Most Popular Baby Names

NEW YORK CITY — The coronavirus pandemic changed so much in New York City, but not what parents wanted to name their babies.

Liam and Emma yet again topped the most popular baby names in the city, according to birth certificate records from 2020.

Both names have been popular for years running — Liam first grabbed the top choice for boys in 2016 and Emma did the same for girls in 2017, and both held onto the "most popular" title every year since.

Parents apparently found the names comforting in 2020 as COVID-19 ravaged the city. There were 682 Liams and 442 Emmas out of 100,022 babies born that year, health department officials said.

“2020 was a challenging year, but these babies were bright spots,” Dave Chokshi, the city's health commissioner, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to celebrate our newest New Yorkers and welcome them to the world.”

Here are the 10 most popular girls names in 2020:

1. Emma
2. Sophia
3. Mia
4. Olivia
5. Isabella
6. Ava
7. Leah
8. Sarah
9. Chloe
10. Amelia

And here are the 10 most popular boys names that year:

1. Liam
2. Noah
3. Jacob
4. Ethan
5. Lucas
6. Joseph
7. David
8. Aiden
9. Alexander
10. Daniel

The most popular names remained largely the same from 2019. Nine of the top 10 girls names from that year remained on the list, with Charlotte falling off in 2020, officials said.

And eight of the top 10 boys names from 2019 held out on the list. Two traditional names — Matthew and Michael — fell off, officials said.