For a second year running, Charlotte was the most popular baby name for girls born in Virginia, while Liam edged out last year’s winner, Noah, to take the title for boys. 

“It’s always fun to see what the most popular baby names will be in Virginia,” said Seth Austin, state registrar and director of the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records in a release Tuesday. “The inspiration for a name can come from so many different places, and no matter the inspiration, these new babies’ names will be central to their identity as they grow up and do great things in the world.”

Besides repeats Charlotte and Liam, many of this year’s top baby names also made last year’s list. Emma, Olivia, Ava, Sophia, Amelia, Evelyn, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Harper and Abigail proved perennial favorites for girls, as did Noah, James, Oliver, William, Lucas, Henry, Theodore, Benjamin, Levi, Elijah and John for boys. 

Overall, state data showed August was the busiest month of the year for births, but July 7 saw more infants ushered into the commonwealth — 332, to be exact — than any other day in the year. 

If you believe the old “Monday’s Child” poem linking character to the day of the week a baby is born, Virginia has a lot of little ones right now who are “loving and giving,” with 14,231 babies born on a Friday in 2023. On the flipside, only 8,768 were born on a Sunday, meaning the state’s ranks of babies who are “bonny and blithe, good and gay” may be depleted. 

While a final tally of births isn’t yet available for last year, the Office of Vital Records estimates the number will be similar to the 95,583 recorded in 2022.