Every spring, the government releases a highly-anticipated list: the 100 most popular baby names in Quebec for the previous year. The Retraite Québec bank of names is usually updated in April when curious residents flock to the website to meet the new generation and see how their kids' names stacked up.
Soon-to-be parents might find some inspiration on the list or look at it in dismay when they realize their little Emma will become "Emma B." because she'll be one of five in her classroom.
It's also always fun to see which events and people made an impression on the population in the last year.
The names of characters, celebrities, and even politicians make their way into the top 100.
Will the 2020 list be overflowing with little babies named Horacio?
We can't wait to find out.
Retraite Québec separates the names by two sexes.
These were the top 50 for each in 2019:
Olivia and Liam are at the top of the charts this year. These two first names were each in third place for their sex in 2018.
Here's a reminder of the top 20 of each sex for 2018 in Quebec:
The most popular baby names in 2018 were Emma and William, which both slipped to second place in 2019.
If we compare with the rest of Canada, which released its list earlier than the province of Quebec, we can see that certain name trends transcend the boundary of language across the country.
Among boys, the most popular name in Canada is Jackson, which is only 43rd in Quebec. However, it's followed by Noah (fifth in Quebec), and Liam (first in Quebec).
For girls, the Canadian ranking puts Sophia at the top (31st in Quebec), followed by Olivia (first in QC) and Emma (second in Quebec).
This article was originally published in French on Narcity Québec.
