A list of the top 20 baby names for 2018 was released by eHealth Saskatchewan today.  Liam was the most popular name for baby boys for the ninth year in a row, and Olivia was the most popular name for baby girls for the second year in a row.  The second most popular boy name was Oliver and the second most popular girl name was Emma.

There were 84 baby boys named Liam in 2018, followed by Oliver, Benjamin and Noah.  There were 69 baby girls named Olivia, followed by Emma, Harper and Sophia.

Three new baby boy names—Ryker, Emmett and Elijah—made their debut in the top 20 list since eHealth started reporting the most popular baby names in 2008.  Two new baby girl names—Ellie and Ivy—made the top 20 list for the first time in 2018.

Several of the most popular baby boy names from 2017 did not make a reappearance into the 2018 top 20 list, including Owen, Daniel, Gabriel, Asher, Leo and Hunter.  The baby girl names that did not carryover from 2017 were Addison, Brielle, Aria, Quinn and Madison.

In 2018, 15,364 live births were registered in Saskatchewan, which is a decrease of 245 from the number of live births registered in 2017, which totalled 15,609.  These numbers do not include Saskatchewan mothers who gave birth outside of the province.