Australia’s most popular baby names 2020

The numbers have been crunched and Australia’s most popular baby names 2020 can finally be revealed. Hold onto your ovaries, there are some adorable new additions to the top 100.

But first thing’s first, all hail Charlotte and Oliver, which have once again been crowned the most popular baby names in Australia for the fifth year running. Charlotte has been the number one baby girl name seven times in the past decade and has remained on top since overtaking Olivia in 2015. While Oliver has had seven consecutive years at the top of the boy’s baby name chart, since toppling Jack in 2013. Charlotte was the name given to 1,609 Australian baby girls last year, while 2,206 baby boys were named Oliver.

McCrindle has just revealed Australia’s 200 most popular baby names 2020, and we’re taking a deep dive.

New names for a new generation

The year 2010 marked the beginning of a new generation – Gen Alpha: the most digital generation on Earth. Children of Millenials, Gen Alpha children have some of the most unique boy names, unique girl names and well-researched names ever. Just think, back before baby name books, influences mostly came from family traditions. Now parents can search through endless baby name lists to find the perfect moniker for their offspring.

Given that most first-time parents of today and children of the late 80s and early 90s, they grew up with more common names, and have started to shift away from anything that’s too popular. Which makes this year’s top 200 baby names so interesting.

Who’s in and who’s out

We’ve welcomed seven new boys’ names into the top 100 – Ezra (66), Felix (72), Marcus (88), Fletcher (91), Ari (97), Aaron (98) and Billy (100). Out of the top 100 are Toby, Nathan, Maxwell, Nicholas, Blake, Phoenix and Leonardo.

The girls have six newcomers in the top 100 – Sadie (65), Madeline (80), Riley (81), Peyton (89), Lilly (96) and Rosie (98). Booted out of the top 100 girls’ names are Adeline, Eliza, Alyssa, Harlow, Hayley and Madeleine.

The two names that have made the biggest leap in the last two years are Arthur (23) and Millie (69), which jumped 30 places.

Blooming beautiful botanicals

Without fail, every year botanical baby names remain firmly in the top 100 girls’ names, including Willow (8), Ivy (15), Lily (22), Violet (39), Poppy (43), Daisy (56), Jasmine (60), Olive (70) and Rose (76).

Everything old is new again

While it may seem that Charlotte has been one of Australia’s most popular name forever, it wasn’t always the case. It was actually sinking into the oblivion of extinct names until it popped back into the top 100 in 1989.

For the boys, the name Jack has had more years leading the top 100 than any other boys’ name, but it wasn’t even in the top 100 in 1985.

Celebrity name game

It’s obvious that Generation Alpha baby names have been heavily influenced by pop-culture, with celebrity baby names like Billie, Ariana, Noah, George and Luke all featuring in the top 200.

Short and sweet

The research has also discovered that short baby names are winning in the popularity stakes, with Jack (3) outmuscling Jackson (45), Archie (25) topping Archer (27) and Max (23) more popular than Maxwell, which this year fell out of the top 100. For the girls, Ella (11) beat out Isabella (17) and Isabelle (40).

Across the globe

When we compare the top five Australian baby names to the most popular baby names in other English-speaking countries, there are some striking similarities. Oliver is also the top boys’ name in New Zealand and the UK. Charlotte features in the top five names in New Zealand and the USA.

Top 100 baby girl names in Australia 2020

Top 100 baby boy names in Australia 2020

Read next …

Want to take sneaky peek at previous years? Take a look at these:

• Australia’s most popular baby names 2022
• Australia’s most popular baby names 2021 
• Australia’s most popular baby names 2020