The most popular baby names in Utah and nationally by year and/or decade

Though Utah's birth rate is declining, tens of thousands of babies are born each year. In 2024, there were 46,664 live births in Utah, according to the March of Dimes.

With that many new babies born each year, some parents get creative with their names. In a 2024 KSL article, writer Emma Everett Johnson lists some rather unusual names that Utah parents chose. For example, Haizlee and Ripp made the list — and probably won't share their names with anyone else in their school classes!

But many parents opt for more traditional, or at least popular names, for their babies. There are a handful of names that make the top five each year — in Utah and the U.S.

Here's a look at the top baby names throughout the years.

Top Utah names of 2025

Starting with the most recent data available from the Social Security Administration, these were the top baby girl names in Utah from 2025:

Emma, Charlotte, Lucy, Olivia, Evelyn

For baby boys, these were the top five:

Oliver, Liam, Theodore, Jack, Noah

Emma is one of the more popular names throughout the years, and has been for centuries. According to Ancestry.com, Emma is a Germanic word derived from "ermen," which means "whole" or "universal."

Oliver, which has made the boys' name lists for years, comes from the Latin word "Oliverius." Ancestry says it became more common in medieval England after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

Unsurprisingly, the top five names in Utah don't deviate too much from the top five names nationally.

Top five names in the U.S. in 2025

Here are the top girls' names in the U.S. in 2025:

Olivia, Charlotte, Emma, Amelia, Sophia

These are the top five boys' names:

Liam, Noah, Oliver, Theodore, Henry

Olivia has claimed the No.1 spot since 2019 in the national top five girls' names. On the boys' side, Liam has been in the top spot for the last nine years.

Top Utah names of 2020

Going back five years, not too much has changed in baby names. These were the top five girls' names in Utah in 2020:

Olivia, Emma, Charlotte, Amelia, Evelyn

Here were the top five boys' names in Utah:

Oliver, William, Liam, Jack, Henry

Throughout the decades, Biblical names have appeared in the first five most popular boys' names in Utah and the U.S. nearly every year. The same is true for Utah in 2020, with Noah coming in second and Elijah at fifth.

Top 5 names in the U.S. in 2020

The top five girls' names:

Olivia, Emma, Ava, Sophia, Charlotte

These were the top five boys' names:

Liam, Noah, Oliver, William, Elijah

Though it never reached the No. 1 spot, Ava has been in the top five U.S. girls' names since 2006. Liam, Noah, Oliver have been in the top three (in that order) since 2019.

Top Utah names of 2010

In Utah, these were the top five girls' names in 2010:

Olivia, Abigail, Sophia, Emma, Lily

Here were the top five boys' names in Utah:

William, Mason, Jacob, Ethan, James

Interestingly, the most common girls' name nationally in 2010 didn't make Utah's top five at all. Two of the top five boys' names nationally don't appear on Utah's top five, either.

Top 5 names in the U.S. in 2010

Here were the top five girls' names in the U.S. in 2010:

Isabella, Sophia, Emma, Olivia, Ava

These were the top five boys' names:

Jacob, Ethan, Michael, Jayden, WIlliam

Isabella originates from the Hebrew name Elisheba, which means "God is my oath." Over time, the name evolved from the Latin form, Isabella, which is derived from the Spanish Isabel, Ancestry explains.

Top Utah names of 2000

Here were the top girls' names in Utah in 2000:

Madison, Emily, Hannah, Abigail, Samantha

These were the top five boys' names in Utah in 2000:

Jacob, Joshua, Ethan, Tyler, Zachary

Emily was the No.1 name in the U.S. from 1996-2007, but it only made Utah's most popular name for three years.

Top 5 names in the U.S. in 2000

Here were the top five girls' names:

Emily, Hannah, Madison, Ashley, Sarah

These were the top five boys' names in the U.S. in 2000:

Jacob, Michael, Matthew. Joshua, Christoper

Jacob is an incredibly popular name throughout the 90s and 2000s — it was the No.1 boys' name from 1999-2012. It bumped down to second place in 2013 when Noah became the most popular name.

Top Utah names of 1990

Turning back to the 20th century, the top five Utah names are all different than the previous decade.

These were the top five girls' names in Utah:

Jessica, Ashley, Amanda, Megan, Sarah

The top five boys' names in Utah were:

Michael, Joshua, Tyler, Matthew, Jordan

In a complete overhaul from 2000, the top Utah girls' names are all different than 10 years down the road. Jessica was the reigning champ in the U.S. for nine years, and was the top girls' name in Utah from 1985-1995.

Top 5 names in the U.S. in 1990

These were the top five girls' names in the U.S. in 1990:

Jessica, Ashley, Brittany, Amanda, Samantha

Here were the top five boys' names:

Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua, Daniel

Michael might be the most popular men's name in recent history, as it was the top spot for 44 years — not consecutively, though. In 1960, it took the second spot when David was the most popular, but it returned to first place in 1961, where it stayed for decades.

Top Utah names of 1980

Back in the 80s when women sported oversized suits and everyone wore ripped jeans, these were the most popular baby girl names in Utah:

Jennifer, Melissa, Amanda, Amber, Heather

These were the most popular baby boy names in Utah:

Michael, Joshua, David, Jason, Matthew

Though Amber made the top 5 in 1980, it was only in the top five for two years. The name Amber stems from the Arabic word "anbar." It became a popular name for girls around the 1970s and 1980s because of the amber gemstone's color, according to Ancestry.

Top 5 names in the U.S. in 1980

Utah wasn't too far off from the top names nationally. These were the top five girls' names in the U.S. in 1980:

Jennifer, Amanda, Jessica, Melissa, Sarah

Here were the top five boys' names:

Michael, Christopher, Jason, David, James

Though it didn't make Utah's top five in 1980, Christopher was consistently on the national top five list of boy baby names from 1974-1999.

Top Utah names of 1970

Throwing it back to a far-out time, little 70s babies in Utah were getting names society hadn't really seen much of before then.

Here's what was groovy in Utah in 1970:

Jennifer, Michelle, Lisa, Angela, Kimberly

The top five baby boy names in Utah were:

David, Michael, Jason, Robert, James

Utah was ahead of the curve with the name Jason. It didn't become a top five national name until 1973.

Top 5 names in the U.S. in 1970

Utah's list of girls' names and the national list of girls' names were almost in sync in 1970. Here were the top five girls' names in the U.S.:

Jennifer, Lisa, Kimberly, Michelle, Amy

These were the top five boys' names in 1970 in the U.S.:

Michael, James, David, John, Robert

From 1950-1971, these five boys' names were in the top five every year. They weren't always in the same rank, but many Boomer and Gen X babies came home from the hospital with one of those names.

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