Some parents-to-be know the name they will call their child even way before they’re conceived. Others (me included) are trying out options in the delivery suite! To help you find the right name for your baby, or to learn how popular your child’s name is, here are the most popular names Kiwi parents chose for babies born during 2022.
According to statistics released by the Department of Internal Affairs’ Smart Start website in 2022, there were 59,711 births registered in New Zealand with 18,041 different first names. This is an increase in both numbers since 2021 when there were 56,013 births registered with 16,790 different first names.
It’s a ten!
Oliver remains at the top for most popular boy name for the 10th year in a row while Isla, who has been in the top three girls’ names since 2016, has knocked Charlotte from the top spot in 2022 after being second place in 2021.
The most popular gender-neutral name for 2022 was Riley.
The most popular Māori names for 2022 will be released to coincide with the run-up to Matariki celebrations in 2023.
Most popular names in 2022
Rounding out the top five for the girls are Charlotte, Amelia, Olivia, and Mila (a new entrant since 2021). For the boys – Noah, Jack, Leo and George complete the top five. New to the top 10, Harper sits at 9th place and Sophie at 10th. They replace Isabella and Ella, which were 8th and 10th place in 2021, respectively. Hudson is also new to the top ten boy names in Aotearoa, coming in at 9th place replacing Lucas from last year’s list.
Want to know what the most popular names were in the year your baby was born (or even yourself)? Pop over to the SmartStart website to go right back to 1954.
Let’s go right back!
Want to know what the most popular names are in New Zealand from the whole of the last 170+ years? Statistics are available for the most popular names for birth registrations from 1848 to the end of 2020. While not all names are included, there are the top 350 female and male first names, plus the top 350 surnames (see more here).
The top 10 names in NZ since 1848 are:
Girls
- Mary
- Margaret
- Elizabeth
- Sarah
- Patricia
- Catherine
- Susan
- Helen
- Emma
- Alice
Boys
- John
- William
- James
- David
- Robert
- Michael
- Peter
- Thomas
- George
- Richard
New Zealand’s 100 most popular baby names in 2022
| RANK | GIRLS | NUMBER | BOYS | NUMBER |
| 1 | Isla | 246 | Oliver | 274 |
| 2 | Amelia | 210 | Noah | 262 |
| 3 | Charlotte | 208 | Leo | 243 |
| 4 | Mila | 182 | Jack | 234 |
| 5 | Lily | 180 | Luca | 222 |
| 6 | Ava | 179 | Theodore | 219 |
| 7 | Willow | 177 | George | 211 |
| 8 | Olivia | 175 | Charlie | 195 |
| 9 | Harper | 167 | Hudson | 169 |
| 10 | Sophie | 166 | William | 169 |
| 11 | Hazel | 164 | Oscar | 166 |
| 12 | Mia | 161 | Arthur | 160 |
| 13 | Ella | 157 | Elijah | 158 |
| 14 | Isabella | 156 | Arlo | 156 |
| 15 | Ruby | 149 | Thomas | 151 |
| 16 | Chloe | 144 | James | 150 |
| 17 | Millie | 137 | Archie | 146 |
| 18 | Zoe | 130 | Henry | 144 |
| 19 | Grace | 128 | Lucas | 140 |
| 20 | Lucy | 117 | Hunter | 138 |
| 21 | Olive | 117 | Liam | 136 |
| 22 | Emily | 116 | Mason | 130 |
| 23 | Aria | 115 | Theo | 124 |
| 24 | Freya | 114 | Ezra | 123 |
| 25 | Ivy | 111 | Max | 123 |
| 26 | Evelyn | 110 | Levi | 121 |
| 27 | Georgia | 105 | Cooper | 120 |
| 28 | Sienna | 105 | Carter | 114 |
| 29 | Layla | 102 | Hugo | 112 |
| 30 | Poppy | 102 | Lachlan | 110 |
| 31 | Matilda | 101 | Asher | 109 |
| 32 | Sophia | 101 | Beau | 108 |
| 33 | Frankie | 100 | Finn | 104 |
| 34 | Luna | 96 | Archer | 103 |
| 35 | Mackenzie | 95 | Felix | 103 |
| 36 | Ellie | 94 | Benjamin | 100 |
| 37 | Sadie | 92 | Luka | 100 |
| 38 | Maia | 91 | Jasper | 94 |
| 39 | Florence | 87 | Luke | 92 |
| 40 | Riley | 86 | Harry | 91 |
| 41 | Isabelle | 85 | Ethan | 88 |
| 42 | Margot | 85 | Alexander | 87 |
| 43 | Maeve | 84 | Roman | 87 |
| 44 | Evie | 83 | Grayson | 85 |
| 45 | Violet | 83 | Harrison | 85 |
| 46 | Aurora | 80 | Jackson | 83 |
| 47 | Billie | 80 | Lincoln | 83 |
| 48 | Daisy | 78 | Samuel | 83 |
| 49 | Sofia | 75 | Jacob | 82 |
| 50 | Eleanor | 73 | Louie | 82 |
| 51 | Ayla | 72 | Riley | 79 |
| 52 | Harriet | 72 | Daniel | 77 |
| 53 | Elsie | 70 | Isaac | 77 |
| 54 | Emilia | 70 | Eli | 76 |
| 55 | Emma | 70 | Zion | 76 |
| 56 | Eva | 70 | Austin | 75 |
| 57 | Ada | 67 | Edward | 75 |
| 58 | Amaia | 67 | Harvey | 75 |
| 59 | Penelope | 67 | River | 75 |
| 60 | Scarlett | 67 | Ezekiel | 74 |
| 61 | Stella | 67 | Joseph | 74 |
| 62 | Thea | 67 | Nikau | 74 |
| 63 | Bella | 66 | Louis | 73 |
| 64 | Abigail | 65 | Caleb | 72 |
| 65 | Alice | 63 | Jayden | 71 |
| 66 | Indie | 63 | Jordan | 71 |
| 67 | Madison | 62 | Tommy | 71 |
| 68 | Maisie | 62 | Joshua | 70 |
| 69 | Zara | 62 | Ryan | 70 |
| 70 | Kiara | 60 | Blake | 69 |
| 71 | Piper | 60 | Xavier | 68 |
| 72 | Maddison | 59 | Nico | 67 |
| 73 | Eden | 57 | Bodhi | 66 |
| 74 | Kaia | 57 | Logan | 66 |
| 75 | Summer | 57 | Sebastian | 65 |
| 76 | Phoebe | 55 | Ryder | 64 |
| 77 | Nina | 54 | Quinn | 62 |
| 78 | Aaliyah | 53 | Spencer | 62 |
| 79 | Addison | 53 | Aiden | 60 |
| 80 | Quinn | 52 | Angus | 60 |
| 81 | Imogen | 51 | Finley | 58 |
| 82 | Rosie | 51 | Nathan | 58 |
| 83 | Eliana | 50 | Leon | 56 |
| 84 | Bonnie | 48 | Adam | 55 |
| 85 | Lola | 48 | Matthew | 55 |
| 86 | Harlow | 47 | Oakley | 54 |
| 87 | Charlie | 45 | Tobias | 54 |
| 88 | Elizabeth | 45 | Ari | 53 |
| 89 | Hannah | 45 | Flynn | 53 |
| 90 | Maya | 45 | Otis | 53 |
| 91 | Molly | 45 | Toby | 52 |
| 92 | Pippa | 45 | Connor | 51 |
| 93 | Zoey | 45 | Frederick | 50 |
| 94 | Eloise | 44 | Micah | 50 |
| 95 | Delilah | 43 | Michael | 50 |
| 96 | Leah | 43 | Ollie | 50 |
| 97 | Lilly | 43 | Jaxon | 49 |
| 98 | Amara | 42 | Miles | 49 |
| 99 | Heidi | 41 | Niko | 49 |
| 100 | Kora | 41 | Parker | 49 |
Written by Julie Scanlon
Julie is Editor for Kidspot NZ and our MVP. Her hobbies include laughing uncontrollably at her own jokes, annoying her family by asking questions about movie plots, and never taking anything too seriously. She speaks a little Spanish and a lot of Yorkshire.
Favourite motto to live by: “It ain’t nothing but a thing”
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