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Whether influenced by pop culture, spiritual connectedness or just a name you really, really like, choosing a name for your baby is an important decision you’ll make in your baby’s life. So, if you’re stuck and need inspiration in 2023, the following were the top baby names in 2022 for boys.
While the Social Security Administration (SSA) collects the most popular names given to babies each year, 2022 data won’t be published until the spring, so the majority of these names come from data published by hospitals throughout the country.
Top boy names of 2022
Narrowing down just the right name can be a challenge. Jancee Dunn, author of the bestselling, How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids, spent months alongside her husband compiling lists of potential baby names.
“Those would be winnowed down as family members would helpfully point out, once offered a candidate, that they knew a person with that name who had acute halitosis or a lifelong gambling problem and subsequent ruination,” the former MTV video jockey wrote in The New York Times.
Here are the names US hospitals say were the most popular in 2022:
1. Liam
This name — a derivative of another popular name, William, continues to make it to the top of baby names year after year. According to the SSA, Liam has been in the number-one spot for the last 5 years. Time will tell if this streak continues in 2023.
2. John
One out of every 229 boys was named John in recent years and it has stayed steadily on the lower end of the top thirty names for boys, according to the SSA.
3. James
Derived from the Hebrew name, Jacob (Yaakov), which became Iacomus in Latin, which ultimately translated to James in English. While typically a top baby boy name, actors Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively — who are expecting their fourth baby very soon — made waves when they named their daughter James in 2014.
4. Luke
What do Star Wars, Gilmore Girls and Beverly Hills 90210 have in common? They’re all likely partly responsible for the steady increase in popularity of the name Luke from the late seventies to the start of the new millennium.
5. Joseph
Derived from the Hebrew, Yosuf, the name Joseph means “God will give” and in 2021 ranked the 21st most popular baby boy name of the year.
6. Oliver
Oliver remains steadily in the top three to five spots for the most popular baby name since 2018, and comes from the Old Norse for “ancestor’s descendants” or “olive tree.”
Ongoing baby name trends
Among the three St. Luke’s Hospitals where babies are delivered, administrators noticed some baby name trends taking place. The following baby boy names were the hospital’s most popular in 2022, according to hospital administrators.
7. Elijah
Elijah was the most popular boy’s name at St. Luke’s Allentown Campus.
8. Noah
It was a tough race between Noah and Liam at St. Luke’s Anderson Campus, but Noah took first place as the top baby name at the hospital’s Pennsylvania branch. Ever-popular James came in first place at St. Luke’s Upper Bucks Campus. Across the hospital’s network, the top baby girl names for 2022 were Sadie, Olivia, and Isabella.
Pam Redmond, the founder of Nameberry, a popular baby-naming website expects that baby name trends for 2023 will lean toward significant changes from what we’ve seen in the past, given the enormity of current events over the last few years.
“There’s a sea change upon us,” Redmond explained in a post on Nameberry. “Exactly how that will play out over the next ten years in terms of which names are up, which down, is more difficult to predict than the overall feeling that things are going to change a lot. The mood of names is going to change along with the mood of people.”
Need a baby name in 2023?
At the close of 2022, there were a few baby name trends making the rounds. Quite popular were baby boy names ending in “o” and a fresh new batch of Hebrew names beyond the traditional Jacobs and Noahs. The following baby name trends may continue in 2023:
9. Atticus
Writer and editor Sarah Schmul Long elaborates on what statistics prove; people with the name Atticus have a higher percentage (75%) of being white vs. Black or Hispanic. This ancient Roman name has gained popularity in recent years, despite its connotation with the deeply controversial To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman character, Atticus Finch.
“Atticus’s racism was there all along,” Schmul Long wrote in Electric Literature. “Some of us — because our lives are untroubled by the grinding daily racism Black people face in America — had the privilege of missing it.”
10. Arlo
Old English for “hill” or “fortified hill,” the name Arlo has been popular since 2011. It’s teased its way 725 places to its current rank of 190th most popular boy name in 2021.
11. Silas
Silas, which means “forest” or “woods,” is derived from the name Sylvanus, the Roman god of the countryside.
12. Soren
This Scandinavian name may mean “stern” or “strength,” but it’s become increasingly popular with hygge-inspired parents.
13. Rowan
The name Rowan, which is of Irish and English origin, means “red-haired.” It was initially used as a surname, but has gained popularity as a first name.
14. Milo
Milo is a Slavic name meaning “soldier” that has at its roots means “dear” or “beloved.” Its popularity has been on a steady increase since 2008.
15. Asher
From the Hebrew word for “happiness,” Asher has been slowly trending upward as a baby boy name for the last 22 years.
16. Ezra
What could be “better than Ezra,” for a baby name in 2023? Nineties band references aside, Ezra was ranked the 37th most popular baby name in 2021.
