Here are New Mexico's most popular baby names in 2023

Liams of the world can rejoice, as the name was New Mexico’s most popular for boys in 2023 — a spot Liam has held for three of the past four years.

New Mexico’s top baby names this year remained much the same as 2022, with eight of the same names cracking the Top 10 list for both girls and boys, according to the New Mexico Department of Health, which released the list Wednesday.

The top four baby boy names — Liam, Mateo, Noah and Santiago — are the same top four boy names in the same order of popularity as in 2022.

Olivia has made it from the fifth most popular in 2022 to the most popular girl name for New Mexicans in 2023.

Sofia made it back into the top 10 girl names, ranking fifth most popular in the state. A Sofia by any other spelling might be as sweet, or at least nearly as popular. Sofia joined Sophia, which was the seventh most popular girl name. Both Sofia and Sophia have been in the top 10 girl names for six of the past nine years.

Oliver and James moved out of the top 10 for boys this year, while Evelyn no longer breaks the top 10 for girls. At number 10, Julian is back in the top 10 for boys for the first time since 2018, while at spot seven, Josiah has made its first reappearance on the list since 2017.

Fifty years ago, the most popular baby names in New Mexico in 1973 were quite different, with no names in common with 2023's top names. According to the Social Security Administration, the top boy names were: Michael, David, Christopher, John, Jason, Robert, James, Brian, Daniel and Joseph. The top girls’ names were: Jennifer, Michelle, Melissa, Lisa, Stephanie, Angela, Amy, Rebecca, Maria and Elizabeth.

Twenty years later, in 1993, Michael was still the most popular boy name in New Mexico, and Christopher, Daniel and Joseph were still among the most common, but the top 10 girl names retained only one name: Stephanie. The most common boy names in 1993 were: Michael, Joshua, Christopher, Daniel, Matthew, Jacob, Joseph, Brandon, Ryan and Andrew. The most common girl names were: Ashley, Jessica, Amanda, Samantha, Sarah, Amber, Mariah, Stephanie, Victoria and Brittany.