The 100 Most Popular Baby Names In Quebec In 2021

Quebecers are somewhat conservative when it comes to naming babies. There's no Apple or X Æ A-12 rounding out this year's Retraite Québec list of most-favoured monikers. Instead, Emma and Noah took the top spots in 2021, pushing out the previous year's faves, Olivia and Liam.

Most of 2021's top titles are surprisingly Anglo. Emma is a Latin name meaning "universal" that originated in the U.K. and made its way to North America in the 1990s. It can be used as a standalone name or as a nickname for Emily. It also had the top spot in Quebec in 2018. Presumably, parents were inspired last year by feminist icon Emma Watson or award-winning actor Emma Stone when considering what to call their baby girls.

Noah stems from the Biblical figure and means "rest" or "peace" in Hebrew. The name has been growing in favour since 2016, surpassing the supremely popular William, which remains in second place.

Over the last 20 years, William has dominated the charts, taking the top spot 14 times and second place the other six years.

Liam, a thinly veiled variation of William, took first place in 2020 and 2019. It has since dropped to the fifth position.

The first name Jacob has made a notable rise, from the ninth in 2020 to the sixth position in 2021. Zoe and Felix have both rejoined the top 10, pushing out Clara and Logan from the list. Among the more unusual names in the top 100 is Oceane at position 42 and Maelie at 50 for girls, and Mayson at 50 for boys.

The top names for girls in the province in 2021 were:

1. Emma
2. Olivia
3. Alice
4. Florence
5. Charlie
6. Livia
7. Charlotte
8. Lea
9. Romy
10. Zoe
11. Clara
12. Juliette
13. Rosalie
14. Beatrice
15. Rose
16. Chloe
17. Eva
18. Sofia
19. Mia
20. Mila
21. Victoria
22. Jade
23. Julia
24. Leonie
25. Maeva
26. Raphaelle
27. Jeanne
28. Camille
29. Amelia
30. Flavie
31. Ophelie
32. Elizabeth
33. Elena
34. Adele
35. Eleonore
36. Sophia
37. Jasmine
38. Laurence
39. Lexie
40. Alicia
41. Lily
42. Oceane
43. Ellie
44. Sarah
45. Anna
46. Flora
47. Simone
48. Noelie
49. Sophie
50. Maelie

For boys' names, the top 50 were:

1. Noah
2. William
3. Thomas
4. Leo
5. Liam
6. Jacob
7. Nathan
8. Arthur
9. Edouard
10. Felix
11. Logan
12. Emile
13. Louis
14. Charles
15. Raphael
16. James
17. Arnaud
18. Theo
19. Victor
20. Adam
21. Elliot
22. Alexis
23. Henri
24. Jules
25. Benjamin
26. Samuel
27. Gabriel
28. Milan
29. Olivier
30. Laurent
31. Theodore
32. Nolan
33. Jackson
34. Jayden
35. Lucas
36. Antoine
37. Zack
38. Eloi
39. Ethan
40. Matheo
41. Axel
42. Jake
43. Eli
44. Mathis
45. Hubert
46. Xavier
47. Zachary
48. Leonard
49. Loic
50. Mayson

Retraite Québec compiles the yearly list of in-vogue baby names from data collected from providing financial assistance to families.