What Are Your Favorite Baby Names?

When I was pregnant with Anton, we didn’t know if we were having a boy or girl, so we brainstormed names for both. Our top girls’ names were…

Jane
Margot
Penelope (Penny)
Louisa (Lulu)
Sabine

I also really love the name Anna, but it’s a tongue twister to say “Joanna and Anna.”

It’s funny how you rarely hear the names that were popular when we were growing up — Matt, Josh, Kristen, Jennifer. If my friend were like, “Here’s my new baby, Kevin,” I would do a double take. These days, though, the more offbeat names don’t surprise me at all. We know sweet boys named Ocean, River and Lion. And girls named Persephone, Summer and Charlie.

What baby names do you love? Does it matter to you if they’re popular? So far, according to USA Today and Nameberry, the most popular baby names in 2019 are:

Girls:
Posie
Isla
Olivia
Aurora
Maeve
Cora
Amara
Ada
Amelia
Charlotte

Boys:
Milo
Jasper
Atticus
Theodore
Asher
Silas
Jack
Finn
Henry
Felix

What about you? What names do you love? If you’re expecting, have you made a name decision or are you waiting to meet the baby?

P.S. What to register for your baby, and how did you know you were ready for a baby? Also, a funny parenting story.

(Photo by Hana Asbrink.)