Charlotte Dethrones Olivia as Canada's Top Baby Name, Ottawa Parents Take Note

Ottawa parents picking out baby names have a new front-runner to consider. Charlotte has officially taken over as Canada's most popular name for baby girls in 2025, ending Olivia's remarkable nine-year run at the top spot, according to a roundup shared by local account @613trending (instagram.com/613trending) citing Statistics Canada data.

For Ottawa families, name trends like this tend to show up quickly, whether it's in a daycare roll call in Barrhaven, a kindergarten class list in Kanata, or the name tags at a Nepean birthday party. Charlotte has been climbing the national rankings for years, and its jump to number one tracks with what a lot of local parents and educators have already noticed: more Charlottes showing up in Ottawa classrooms and playgroups than ever before.

On the boys' side, there's more stability. Noah remains Canada's most popular name for boys for the fifth year in a row, with Theodore and Liam rounding out the top three. That kind of staying power is unusual in baby-naming trends, which tend to shift with pop culture, celebrity babies, and generational taste. Noah's continued dominance suggests it has settled into that rare category of names, like Emma or Lucas, that manage to feel both timeless and current at once.

Speaking of which, @613trending's post also pointed to some longer-term data worth noting: Emma and Lucas have shown serious staying power, ranking among Canada's top 100 baby names every single year since 1991. That's more than three decades of consistency, spanning parents who were themselves children in the early '90s and are now naming kids of their own, some of them right here in Ottawa.

Naming trends aren't just trivia. For expecting parents in the capital region, they can offer a quick gut check on how common a name might be in their kid's future class, sports team, or friend group. Ottawa's population growth in family-heavy suburbs like Barrhaven, Orleans, and Stittsville means these national trends tend to play out locally in a pretty visible way, especially once school registration season rolls around each fall.

Whether Charlotte's rise continues or another name takes the crown next year remains to be seen, but for now, Ottawa parents mulling over baby name options have a clear national frontrunner to weigh alongside old favourites.

H/T to @613trending on Instagram, via @statcan_eng.