Though not all the babies born in Red Deer in 2012 were named Liam and Emma, they were the most popular names in 2012 according to Service Alberta.
Red Deer Regional Hospital saw 65 more births in 2012 compared to 2011, rising to 2,650 up from 2,595 a year prior.
Throughout the province there were 52,398 births this year, a record number of babies for the province.
Of which 27,030 were boys and 25,638 were girls.
The other top years for births were 2009 and 2011.
“We are in what looks like a sustained baby boom, which is another reason why our government is committed to building Alberta for the future,” said Manmeet Bhullar, Service Alberta minister, in a release.
The top 10 baby names for boys and girls born in Alberta in 2012 were released by Service Alberta on Wednesday.
Last year there were 5,979 distinct boy names and 7,158 distinct girl names recorded by Service Alberta’s Vital Statistics branch.
Albertan parents went all out choosing a diverse array of names. While the most common boy names were Liam, Ethan, Jacob, Logan, Mason, Benjamin, Lucas, Alexander, Carter and Noah, some parents chose to give their child a one-of-a-kind name such as Thunderbolt, Icarus, Little, Horizon, Rio, Denver, Boston, Cairo, Brave and Hendrix.
The girl’s top 10 names were Emma, Olivia, Emily, Sophia, Ava, Lily, Ella, Isabella, Abigail and Chloe. But parents looking for something different for their new girl chose names including Dancing-Sunflower, Rhaney-Day, Shy-Angel, Skeeter, Princess, Germany, Alberta, Alabama and Ireland.
According to Service Alberta final numbers and a complete list of the names of 2012’s Alberta babies will be available once all the information is collected and compiled later this year.