Presenting: B.C.'s most popular baby names of 2024
Plus: Want to place a wager on what names will be the most popular next year? BCLC's got you covered
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Whoa, Noah. You’re slipping.
In what’s being called a “plot Twist,” the B.C. Ministry of Health says the perennial favourite baby name was usurped in 2024 by a cheeky upstart, Oliver.
Oliver passed Noah as the most popular name this year after running a close second in 2023.
The top 10 most popular names for babies born in B.C. in 2024 were, in order: Oliver, Olivia, Liam, Noah, Theodore, Charlotte, Lucas, Isla, Amelia and Leo, according to the Vital Statistics Agency’s preliminary figures for 2024.
However, B.C.’s first baby of 2025 is named Emerson. The first child for Jordan (Forrest-Drezet) Hill and Elijah Hill was born at 12:02 a.m. at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, according to Interior Health.
In 2023, the top names were Noah, Oliver, Olivia, Theodore, Liam, Jack, Emma, Sophia, Ethan and Leo.
The agency only lists names that were chosen five or more times. The most recent stats show that as of mid-December, 38,103 babies were registered as born in B.C. in 2024.
Feel like placing a wager on who will top the list in 2025? The B.C. Lottery Corporation has you covered.
BCLC is allowing gamblers to place wagers on which of a list of popular names will be the most used next year. Olivia, at 3-to-1 odds, is the current favourite for girls, followed by Emma and Sophia (both 6-to-1), Charlotte (8-to-1) and trendy 2024 names Ava and Isla (both 10-to-1).
As for boys, the race is led by those battling bros, Noah and Oliver, at 4-to-1 odds. Also on the list are increasingly trendy Liam and Theodore (5-to-1), Jack and Lucas (both 10-to-1), and Ethan and Leo (12-to-1).
PlayNow, the only legal gambling website in the province, is taking bets on top baby names until Jan. 31.
BCLC also took wagers on which B.C. hospital will welcome the first baby born in the new year, but bets closed at 6 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. B.C. Women’s Hospital was the betting favourite (3.5-to-1) among 23 listed B.C. hospitals that regularly handle deliveries.
In 2024, Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster was the site of B.C.’s first birth. A wager on that paid out at 12-to-1.
If you’re having issues with problem gambling, BCLC urges you to use the resources at GameSense.com.
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