What Are Your Favorite Baby Names?

A CoJ reader named Apple asked a question that I can’t stop thinking about…

“Can Cup of Jo PLEASE write another baby name post?? I know Jo is maybe no longer in the baby name zone, but there are so many readers who would appreciate a chance to get name ideas from other readers — myself included!”

*Well*, I, too, have been hanging in the baby name department because coming this October, my husband Max and I will be welcoming our third baby, a sweet little girl! We are so excited, and these days all we talk about is who we think our new little nugget will resemble, how Emiliano is going to adjust to being a big brother, and what we think Ella will say the first time she meets her little sister (here’s a video of the first time she met Emiliano).

But the topic that that keeps us up late talking in bed? The baby’s name. We’ve been racking our brains trying to come up with a name that fits, and, you guys, we are struggling!

Back with our first baby, Ella

We had solid plans when we named Ella and Emiliano. As soon as we saw the double lines on our pregnancy test for the first time, both Max and I agreed that if the sex was female, I would choose the name since I already had three names I adored (Ella, Ilana, and Remy). If it was a boy, Max would get to choose the name. Since I ended up getting name rights with Ella, we made a pact that if we had a second kid, Max would get dibs on the first name. He always knew that he wanted to name a son Emiliano, a spin-off of his full name — Maximiliano. So, during my second pregnancy, Max looked over at me with the biggest grin after we opened our doctor’s email and read “presence of a Y chromosome predicts a male fetus.”

This time around, though, we’re trying to decide on a name together. For inspiration, I’ve been clocking every woman’s name that I hear on TV, read in books, and see on Instagram. We also looked at the U.S. Social Security’s 2023 list of most popular names. The top 10 names for girls were:

– Olivia
– Emma
– Charlotte
– Amelia
– Sophia
– Mia
– Isabella
– Ava
– Evelyn
– Luna

The top 10 names for boys were:

– Liam
– Noah
– Oliver
– James
– Elijah
– Mateo
– Theodore
– Henry
– Lucas
– William

We still have five months to brainstorm, but so far we love the names Aaliyah (after the singer) and Margot (short and sweet). I’ve also liked the name Joaquin for a boy, because it sounds so strong.

Now I’d really love to know: what baby names are you into these days? Would you name your baby after a relative or place? Or what about a fictional character? I want to know!

P.S. Why my husband and I gave our daughter my last name‘ and 10 ways to help a new mom.

315 COMMENTS