These Were the 10 Most Popular Baby Names of 2016

If there's one thing a lot of parents-to-be spend a lot of time agonizing over, it's choosing what to name the baby! Fortunately, we can see what's trending in the name market, just in case you want to steer your decision by how many kids are likely to have the same name in school.

In trends, what we were watching on TV seems to have affected everything! Names from horror movies and shows like Walking Dead and Stranger Things seemed to have a big influence on us this year! Nancy, Dustin, Lucas, Joyce, Hershel and Walker all climbed in popularity. Superhero names like Banner and Harley were big, and Hillary and Ivanka were also popular choices this year, no doubt partly due to the election.

STEM education was also big in 2016, with names like Cloud, Apple, Elon, Rocket, Newton, Edison, Benjamin and Albert up by a significant amount.

Babycenter released their top 100 most popular names for 2016! You can check out the whole list of all 100 if you like, or click right to see the top 10 most popular names of 2016.

Charlotte

PRONOUNCED: shar-LOT (French), SHAHR-lət (English) [key]

Did you know? Charlotte is the French feminine diminutive of CHARLES. It was introduced to Britain in the 17th century.

Elijah

PRONOUNCED: i-LIE-jə (English), i-LIE-zhə (English) [key]

From the Hebrew name Eliyyahu meaning "my God is YAHWEH." Elijah was a Hebrew prophet and miracle worker, as told in the two Books of Kings in the Old Testament.

Zoe

PRONOUNCED: ZO-ee (English)

"Life" in Greek. It was adopted as a translation of EVE by Hellenized Jews.

Oliver

PRONOUNCED: AHL-ə-vər (English) [key]

From Olivier, a Norman French form of a Germanic name like ALFHER (roughly, warrior or army). In the Middle Ages, the name became popular in Western Europe because of the French epic 'La Chanson de Roland.'

Aria

PRONOUNCED: AHR-ee-ə [key]

Literally, a "song" or "melody." In music, an aria is an elaborate vocal solo, like you would hear in an opera. In Italian, aria means "air."

Caden

PRONOUNCED: KAY-dən [key]

Caden is a recent name - its popularity began in the 1990s - and is due to rhyming with the -aden suffix sound of other very popular baby names names like Hayden, Aidan and Braden.

Riley

PRONOUNCED: RIE-lee [key]

Did you know? This is a name popular for boys, too! But in either case, Riley as an English surname is derived from a place whose name means "rye clearing" in Old English.

Mason

PRONOUNCED: MAY-sən [key]

Literally, "stoneworker."

Isabella

PRONOUNCED: iz-ə-BEL-ə (English) [key]

This princess name was owned by many medieval royals, including the queen consorts of England, France, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire and Hungary, not to mention Isabel of Castile.

Ethan

PRONOUNCED: EE-thən (English) [key]

From the Hebrew name Eitan meaning "solid, enduring, firm." It became more common in America after the revolutionary Ethan Allen (1738-1789) but didn't become popular until the end of the 20th century.

Mia

PRONOUNCED: MEE-ə (English) [key]

A popular diminutive in many languages of MARIA or MARY. Mia in Italian means "mine."

Noah

PRONOUNCED: NO-ə (English) [key]

Derived from the Hebrew Noach meaning "rest, comfort". And, of course, who could forget the story of the Ark?

Ava

PRONOUNCED: AY-və [key]

A variant of EVE.

Liam

PRONOUNCED: LEE-əm (English) [key]

A popular Irish short form of WILLIAM (which comes from the Germanic name Willahelm).

Olivia

PRONOUNCED: ə-LIV-ee-ə (English) [key]

Did you know? William Shakespeare created this spelling for a character in the comedy 'Twelfth Night' (1602). We'll never know for sure what it means, but Shakespeare might have based it on either OLIVER or OLIVA, or perhaps directly on the Latin word oliva ("olive").

Lucas

PRONOUNCED: LOO-kəs (English) [key]

A Latin form of Loukas which meant "from Lucania," (a region in southern Italy). Luke is the English form, and historically, Luke was a doctor who travelled in the company of the apostle Paul.

Emma

PRONOUNCED: EM-ə (English) [key]

A short form of the many Germanic names that began with ermen meaning "whole" or "universal." Also the central character in Jane Austen's book, Emma (1816).

Aiden

PRONOUNCED: AY-dən [key]

This name's a variant of AIDAN, which is an Anglicized form of names that trace their origin back the old Irish name Áed ("fire"). Also now popular for the same reason as Caden, Braden and Hayden.