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By Aliss Higham
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A new analysis of hundreds of thousands of names has identified the girls’ and boys’ names with the steepest declines from 2024 to 2025, suggesting which could be rare in 2026 and getting rarer as time moves on.
Why It Matters
The findings point to shifting tastes among U.S. parents, with non-traditional spellings, place-inspired names, and certain endings and initials losing momentum as classic choices such as Noah and Olivia continue to lead.
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The 2026 list highlights parents moving away from more novelty spellings and trend-driven choices, signaling that parents may be gravitating back to more traditional or streamlined names.
What To Know
BabyCenter analyzed the names in its top 1,000 that saw the biggest year-over-year declines, using information from parents who registered babies born in 2025 through to November 3, 2025, and comparing those rankings with 2024.
Among girls’ names, the steepest drops included Charleigh, which fell 421 places, followed by Mckinley (down 419), Prisha (down 349), Ezra (down 348), Sasha (down 331), and Mía (down 330).
Other girls’ names that declined notably included Kenna, Kori, Dior, Shaikha, Gabrielle, Zaylee, Ocean, Allie, Giana, Skyler, and Kinley, showing a broad slide across several once-rising choices.
For boys, Kylian posted the sharpest drop, falling 512 spots. It was followed by Atharv (down 373), Enoch (down 345), Crue (down 324), Huxley (down 296), Salman (down 278), and Camilo (down 259). Other boys’ names with significant declines included Advik, Emmitt, Garrett, Jaxton, Avyaan, Karim, Ishaan, Dax, Mohamad, and Case.
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The data also suggested several broader naming patterns on the decline. Less traditional spellings such as Charleigh, Alivia, Maddison, Emmitt, and Mohamad lost ground, as did place-inspired names like Malaysia, Dallas, and London for girls, along with Boston for boys.
BabyCenter also found that boys’ names ending in “-y,” including Huxley, Grady, Rey, Corey, and Harry, are becoming less popular. Names beginning with D and K—such as Danielle, Dylan, Kenna, Kinley, Dominic, Dev, Kylian, and Karim—were also trending downward.
Despite those shifts, some long-established favorites remained firmly at the top in 2025, with Noah and Olivia holding on as the leading overall names. Eliana and Aurora moved into the girls’ top 10, while Luca returned to the boys’ top 10, knocking out Leo, which has been popular in recent years.
What Happens Next
BabyCenter will continue updating its monthly rankings using parent-submitted data and will release a 2026 year-end list, offering an early read on whether these fast-falling names rebound or keep declining.
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