Benjamin, Olivia are B.C.'s most popular baby names of 2017

Ben, Olivia top list of common baby names B.C. has released a preliminary list of the most popular baby names in the province this year, including Benjamin and Olivia.

While there are still a few days left of 2017, it appears that Benjamin and Olivia will be B.C.'s most popular baby names this year.

The Ministry of Health released a preliminary version of the list on Friday using data collected between Jan. 1 and Dec. 15.

While Benjamin is currently in the lead for boys, B.C.'s Vital Statistics Agency said the race is close, and Liam, Logan and Lucas are just a few places behind.

If Benjamin keeps its place, it'll be the first year the name has been number one.

For girls, the frontrunner appears to be Olivia, a name that was also most popular in 2016. Emma, Sophia, Charlotte and Ava round out the current top five.

The final ranking will be available in 2018, as will a total number of babies born in B.C. this year.

At the same time, the province released its finalized 2016 list. Preliminary rankings were revealed last December, but the list released Friday included specific numbers as well as names outside of the top five.

Of the 45,399 babies born in B.C. in 2016, 51 per cent were boys.

Lucas was the most popular boy name, followed by Benjamin, Ethan, Oliver and Liam. VSA said it appears that Ethan and Oliver may be edged out of the top five in 2017 by Logan and James.

Nearly 23,200 girls were born in 2016, 265 of which were named Olivia. Also in the top five, as in the early 2017 results, were Emma, Charlotte, Ava and Sophia.

The province published a chart of the top 20 names for each, as well as a list of all names that occurred five or more times through the course of 2016.

Less popular girls' names included two spellings of Winter – 10 spelled traditionally, and eight spelled Wynter. Five baby girls were named Zinnia, a type of flower, 10 were named Sailor or Saylor, and five were named Ripley.

There were 40 named Paisley/Paislee, 20 named Parker, and six named Indiana. Six Ivorys and nine Frankies were born in 2016 in B.C. Ten girls were named Clementine, six named Clover and five named Uma.

Six girls and two dozen boys were named August. Another five boys were named Augustus.

Thirty-three were named Axel or Axl, 13 were named Cedar and Kyler, six were named Cove and another six were named Drake.

There were 10 boys named Fox born in 2016, six named Grey and five named Indy. Six Orlandos, seven Jaggers, 20 Zayn/Zaynes and 34 Nashes were born last year.