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The list of the most popular names for boys born in the state this year is led by Noah, Liam and Mateo, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. That's no surprise: Those were also the three most popular names in 2024.

Using the list of popular names from 2000 as a guide, their parents were far more likely to be named Jacob, Michael and Alexander, the top names from that year.

For girls, Olivia, Sophia and Mia are at the top of this year's list. These names, too, have been popular for years.

A quarter century ago, however, Arizonans most often picked Emily, Ashley and Samantha for their new daughters.

While there's stability from year to year, there are some indications of possible new trends.

Like Theodore.

In 2024, it ranked No. 44 among popular names for boys. This year, for some reason, it made it all the way up to No. 8.

And Luca moved from 79 to 11.

Conversely, Aiden was at the No. 15 slot in 2024, but this year slid to No. 68.

There also are some new appearances, including Atlas at 47 and Beau at 48, names that weren't in the Top 100 the year before.

Among girls, the year-over-year changes were not as pronounced. 

Eliana went from 18 to 8 between 2024 and 2025. Juniper climbed all the way from No. 90 to 55.

Ailani reached 19 this year despite being nowhere on the Top 100 list in 2024.

The list as compiled by the health department might not reflect a name's true popularity the way it would if its various spellings were combined.  

Consider Sophia. The state recorded 295 babies born in 2025 with that name and spelling. 

But another 199 babies were named Sofia on their birth certificates. If you combine both spellings, the name far outpaces Olivia which, based on unique spelling, is the top-rated name for girls.

And that doesn't even consider babies named Sophie.

There are other examples, such as Amelia and Emilia, both in the Top 20.

On the opposite side of the trend, a once-hot name seems to no longer be the choice of parents.

Nevaeh — heaven spelled backwards — hadn't even been in the Top 100 when it rocketed all the way to No. 18 in 2007.

Its sudden popularity then was credited by many to the decision by Sonny Sandoval, frontman for the Christian rock group P.O.D. (Payable on Death), to choose that name for his newborn daughter and take her on MTV in 2000.

By last year, though, Nevaeh had slid in Arizona to just No. 84. And this year it's no longer in the Top 100.

Also disappearing from the chart this year for girls were Anastasia, Evangeline and Natalie.

Oh, and it's not just the newest Arizona parents who are rejecting the names that were popular the year they were born.

Data from 1975 shows their own parents did pretty much the same thing.

That year Michael, Jason and Christopher topped the list for newborn boys in Arizona, and the leading names for girls that year were Jennifer, Amy and Michelle.