The Social Security Administration put out their updated baby name stats a while back . . . the #1 name for boys last year was Liam, and Olivia for girls.

But people are still going through all those stats and finding interesting stuff.  Here are ten surprising baby name trends from 2020 . . .

1.  Britney was NOT a popular name last year.  Only 99 babies named Britney were born in the U.S.  But that might change this year because of all the “Free Britney” stuff.

2.  Ezekiel is now a more popular name than Robert.  It’s the 65th most popular name for a boy.  Robert is 80th.

3.  Hannah is still a popular girl’s name, but Nova is MORE popular.  It ranked 38th, and Hannah is 39th.

4.  Denise is one of the fastest-rising baby names for girls.  It dropped out of the top 1,000 five years ago.  But it’s surging back.  And “Denisse” with two S’s is more popular than the normal spelling right now.

5.  Legend is more popular than George.  Only 2,700 boys were named George last year.  Just over 2,800 were named Legend.

6.  Maverick is one of the most popular boy names in South Dakota.  It ranked 49th overall in 2020, but fourth in South Dakota.

7.  Serenity is way more popular than Lauren now.  Almost three times more girls were named Serenity than Lauren last year.

8.  Axel is more popular than Adam.  The name Adam peaked in the 1980s at 18th, but now it’s 96th.  Axel was the 72nd most popular name last year.

9.  Dior is one of the fastest-growing names for girls AND boys.  It rose 108 spots and is now the 499th most popular name for girls.  It also jumped 434 spots and is now in the top 1,000 for boys.

10.  In general, we get more creative with girls’ names.  They track every name that’s given to at least five babies each year.  The 2020 list includes 13,911 boy names, and 17,360 different girl names.  So about 25% more variety.

(( Featured Imagine Photo Credit: Canva ))