The most popular names for babies in North Dakota last year were Oliver for boys and Olivia for girls.

The U.S. Social Security Administration releases the most popular names for babies nationwide and in individual states and territories each May.

Last year 57 boys were named Oliver in North Dakota. It was followed by Liam, with 51 uses; Theodore, with 43 uses; Asher and Brooks, each with 42 uses; Henry, Hudson, and Lincoln, each with 40 uses; Jack, with 39 uses; and Logan, with 37 uses.

Asher, which ranks 25th nationally; Brooks, which ranks 77th nationally; Hudson, which ranks 34th nationally; and Lincoln, which ranks 45th nationally, are all considerably more popular for boys in North Dakota than they are at the national level.

The popularity list for girls in North Dakota is more closely matched to the national list.

There were 52 girls named Olivia in 2021 in North Dakota, followed by Harper, with 48 uses; Emma, with 45 uses; Evelyn, with 44 uses; Amelia, with 43 uses; Charlotte, with 37 uses; Ava, with 35 uses; Eleanor, with 32 uses; Aurora and Nora, each with 30 uses.

Aurora is more popular in North Dakota than elsewhere. Hazel, which ranks 11th on North Dakota’s list, was in the top 10 for North Dakota in 2020 and is also more popular in the region than it is nationally, where it ranked 28th in 2021.

At the national level, the top 10 names for boys last year were: Liam, Noah, Oliver, Elijah, James, William, Benjamin, Lucas, Henry and Theodore.

The national top 10 list for girls in 2021 included: Olivia, Emma, Charlotte, Amelia, Ava, Sophia, Isabella, Mia, Evelyn and Harper.