Olivia, Liam, most popular baby names in New Brunswick for 2020

There were 7,930 registered births in Nova Scotia in 2018 and 5,448 in New Brunswick. Baby Shiloh, pictured above, was the first baby believed to have been born in Canada in 2018. (FILE - THE CANADIAN PRESS)

HALIFAX — For the fourth straight year, Olivia is the most popular name for baby girls in New Brunswick.

However, the name William has been dethroned after two years on the top of the charts, with Liam taking over the most popular name for baby boys in the province.

Data released Thursday by the Vital Statistics Office at Service New Brunswick show that 5,403 children were born in the province in 2020 – 2,579 girls and 2,824 boys.

That is a slight increase in total births and baby boys from the 2019 numbers, which saw 5,355 children born in the province – 2,603 girls and 2,752 boys.

“Congratulations to all the new parents,” said Service New Brunswick Minister Mary Wilson in a release. “It has been a challenging year in so many ways, but the arrival of these babies is certainly something to be celebrated.”

Service New Brunswick says 1,026 different names were given to baby boys in 2020, and 1,174 different names given to girls.

Olivia remained the most popular name for the fourth year in a row, followed by Amelia, Emma, Charlotte, Violet, Ella, Scarlett, Ellie, Ava, Sophie and Mia.

The most popular names for boys in 2020 were Liam, Noah, Jack, Jackson, Benjamin, Lincoln, William, Oliver, Thomas and Jacob.

Olivia was also the most popular name for baby girls born in Nova Scotia in 2020. However, Liam (33 babies), was well behind Oliver (56 babies) in the list of most popular baby boy names in N.S.