Baby names that scream California: State’s most popular in 2018

The new list of favorite names for California babies is out, and on the boys’ side it doesn’t look much like the U.S. list.

In the 2018 rankings released Thursday by the Social Security Administration, the top two names for California boys are Noah and Liam. On the list for the U.S. as a whole, it was Liam at No. 1, Noah at No. 2.

But the rest of the top 10 diverges from the national favorites. The most notable outlier is Mateo — 4th in California, 37th in the United States. Julian is 7th in California, 36th in the United States.

The girls’ list conforms more closely to the national picks. Four of the top five are the same for the state and the nation: Emma, Olivia, Isabella and Sophia.

The most distinctly Californian names in the Top 10 are Luna (10th in California, 23rd in U.S.), Victoria (9th in California, 21st in U.S.) and Camila (6th in California, 18th in U.S.).

California rejected Harper, a popular girls’ name nationwide. It’s ninth on the U.S. list, 31st in the Golden State.

Related stories:

• Top baby names of 2018 released by Social Security
• Bottom of the list: The baby names picked by only a few