Olivia, Liam lead New Brunswick's top baby names

A list of New Brunswick's most popular baby names reveals a defending champion and a title change.

For the year just ended, and for the fourth year in a row, the province's top, traditionally female baby name is Olivia.

This is the23rd time Olivia has made the Top 10 list since 1980.

But there's a new champion for traditionally male names, with Liam reaching top spot in 2020, according to a news release from Service New Brunswick.

William, the top male name in 2019, has been knocked down quite a peg, to seventh place.

Joining Olivia on the female podium are Amelia at number two and Emma at number three.

On the male side, Noah finished in second place while Jack squeeked in at third.

Some previously popular names are now absent from the top baby names list.Sarah and Emily, which appeared on the list 29 times between 1980 and 2019 are now absent. The same can be said for Ryan, which appeared on the list 30 times in the same period.

5,403 new New Brunswickers

The vital statistics office at Service New Brunswick said preliminary statistics indicate 5,403 children were born in the province in 2020.

Boys led the pack with 2,824 births, with girls coming in at 2,579.

While some names were definitely more common than others, there was still a lot of variety with 1,174, unique names given to girls and 1,026 unique names given to boys.

The full Top 10 list for baby names in the province for 2020: