B.C.'s most popular baby names hold steady in otherwise unsteady year

The results are in, and Olivia takes the crown once again as the most popular name for a newborn in British Columbia.

Olivia has been going strong for some time now, ranking among the favourite names for baby girls for eight of the past nine years and holding the top spot since 2016.

The B.C. Vital Statistics Agency released its ranking on Thursday of the top names for the 39,322 babies born in the province between Jan. 1 and Dec. 17, 2020.

The top 10 names include:

1. Olivia
2. Liam
3. Oliver
4. Noah
5. Lucas
6. Emma
7. Theodore
8. Benjamin
9. Ethan
10. Charlotte

Last year's roster looked almost identical. In 2019, the top 10 also began with Olivia and wasfollowed by Oliver, Liam, Lucas, Ethan, Noah, William, Benjamin, Charlotte and Theodore.

There were 4,381 fewerbabies born in the same period in 2020 than in 2019.

Roderic Beaujot, an expert in demographics andemeritus professor of sociology at the University of Western Ontario, says the increased intimacy of lockdown measures has come with added caution about the future and new anxieties about the prospect of raising a child.

"They feel uncertain about the future. They're concerned and anxious, which would mean that they do not see it as a good situation in which to have a child, if it's not already on its way."

Beaujot suspects there will be a baby boom when the pandemic truly resolves, much like what was seen following the end of the Second World War.