Most Popular Girl Names of 2025

The most popular girl names right now

The most popular girl names in the United States today include Olivia, Emma, Charlotte, Amelia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, Mia, Evelyn and Luna. These are the names given to the most baby girls each year, ranked from official US Social Security Administration data — genuine choices made by families across the country. Olivia has held the top spot for several years, with Emma and Charlotte close behind. This page ranks the current favourites, each linked to its full meaning, origin and popularity history.

How girl name popularity is measured

Each year, the Social Security Administration publishes the exact number of baby girls given each name, in a list kept separate from boys’ names. Because the data reaches back to 1880, any girl’s name can be traced across its whole history — its first appearance, its peak, and whether it’s climbing or fading today. StorkWorld’s rankings come directly from this data, and every name page shows the full trend, so you can see not just where a name stands now but where it’s going.

Why girl names change faster

Girls’ names behave differently from boys’: they turn over far more quickly and show much more variety and invention. Where a single boy’s name can reign for decades, the top girl’s name changes every few years, and fashions sweep through girls’ names more dramatically. Parents tend to give girls a wider range of names and to embrace new sounds and revivals more readily. That means a popular girl’s name today often feels fresher than its rank suggests — it may be brand-new to the top of the list.

The most popular girl names of the past century

The story of girls’ names is one of constant change. Mary was the runaway leader for the first half of the twentieth century, before giving way to Lisa, then Jennifer in the 1970s, Jessica and Ashley in the 1980s and 1990s, Emily in the 2000s, and Emma and Olivia since. Each era has its own sound. Explore the real number-one girls’ names decade by decade on our top-names pages to trace the whole sweep of changing fashion.

What makes a girl name popular

Girls’ names are especially driven by sound fashion — whole families of names rise and fall as tastes shift, currently toward soft, vowel-rich, flowing names like Olivia, Ava and Mia. Vintage revivals are powerful too, lifting names like Charlotte, Eleanor and Hazel. Pop culture gives sudden boosts, and nature and celestial trends have propelled names like Luna, Willow and Aurora up the charts. Most popular girls’ names ride several of these currents at once.

Classic popular girl names

Some of the most popular girls’ names are timeless classics: Charlotte, Elizabeth, Emma, Grace, Sophia, Anna and Alice. These carry centuries of history, a wealth of nicknames, and associations with queens and beloved heroines. Charlotte in particular blends classic pedigree with current fashion, which is exactly why it sits so near the top today.

The vintage revival among popular girl names

A striking feature of today’s top girls’ names is how many are vintage revivals — century-old names newly back in fashion. Charlotte, Amelia, Evelyn, Eleanor, Hazel, Nora and Violet all peaked long ago, faded, and have returned to the heights. This gives them a lovely double quality: familiar and warm, yet fresh again after a long absence.

Rising girl names

Beneath the leaders, some girls’ names are climbing fast: Luna, Aurora, Willow, Ivy, Maeve, Nova, Ada and Aria. These blend nature, celestial and vintage charm, reflecting exactly where girls’ naming fashion is heading. Catching one on its way up gives your daughter a name that feels current before it becomes common — our pages flag which names are rising.

Should you choose a popular girl name?

A popular girl’s name is a warm, well-loved choice — appealing precisely because so many people find it beautiful. Because girls’ names turn over faster, a popular one may also feel fresher than a popular boy’s name. The one thing to weigh is sharing: your daughter may meet others with the same name. In practice, today’s top girls’ names are spread far more thinly than the Marys and Jennifers of the past, so “popular” now means well-liked, not universal.

How common is a top girl name really?

Far less than in past decades. When Mary led the mid-century, a huge share of girls received it; today’s number-one, Olivia, is spread across a much wider variety of names, so a modern top-ten girl’s name is nowhere near as common as its rank implies. If you love a popular girl’s name, that’s reassuring — your daughter will meet fewer namesakes than a mid-century Mary or a 1980s Jennifer ever did.

Popular girl names with pretty nicknames

Many popular girls’ names come with a wardrobe of sweet nicknames. Charlotte gives Lottie and Charlie; Elizabeth gives Liz, Beth, Eliza and Ellie; Amelia gives Amy, Mia and Millie; Isabella gives Bella, Izzy and Belle. A longer popular name with lovely nicknames lets your daughter choose her own everyday version as she grows.

Popular girl names by style

Today’s most popular girls’ names fall into a few clear moods, which makes it easy to find your lane. There are the elegant classics — Charlotte, Elizabeth, Grace, Sophia — timeless and refined. There are the vintage revivals — Amelia, Evelyn, Eleanor, Hazel, Nora — century-old names newly fashionable again. There are the soft and modern favourites — Olivia, Ava, Mia, Emma, Isla — flowing and gentle. And there are the nature and celestial risers — Luna, Willow, Aurora, Ivy — magical and grounded at once. Recognising which style draws you helps you narrow a long list quickly, and because girls’ names offer such variety, you can almost always find a popular name that matches your taste exactly. On StorkWorld, each name’s meaning, origin and popularity trend sit on its profile, so you can pair the style you love with the substance to back it up — and see whether a name is a steady classic or a fast riser before you decide.

Popular or unique: choosing for your daughter

As with any name, choosing a girl’s name means deciding how you feel about popularity. A top name like Olivia or Charlotte is beloved, familiar and easy to wear, and because girls’ names turn over faster, a popular one can feel fresher than you’d expect — the trade-off is that your daughter may meet others who share it. A rarer name gives her something more distinctly her own, at the small cost of a little more spelling over the years. Neither choice is better; it comes down to your family’s taste and how much you value familiarity versus distinctiveness. The important thing is to choose on purpose rather than by chance, and the popularity data makes that easy — you can pick the number-one name knowingly, choose a well-loved name a little further down, or head toward something rare and lovely. Seeing the real numbers turns a daunting decision into a confident one.

Choosing a popular girl name

If you’re drawn to a popular girl’s name, use the rankings to choose with intention. Decide whether you want a timeless classic (Charlotte, Grace), a vintage revival (Eleanor, Hazel) or a fresh riser (Luna, Aurora); check the nickname and initials; and say the full name with your surname. Because girls’ names offer such variety, the data helps you find a name that’s beloved by many yet still feels distinctively right for your daughter. And whichever name you choose, every profile on StorkWorld backs it with a real, researched meaning and 145 years of genuine popularity history — so your decision rests on facts, not guesswork, and a name you can feel completely confident carrying your daughter through life.