Welcome to the world, Ava and Liam, Geisinger’s most popular baby names of the eventful year, 2020!

Liam climbed up one spot from last year and beat Noah to the No. 1 spot for boys, while Ava jumped over Emma, Olivia, Harper, Charlotte and Amelia to take the No. 1 spot for girls.

Geisinger welcomed 4,945 babies in 2020 (as of Dec. 21, 2020) and has tabulated the most popular names. Babies are delivered at five Geisinger hospitals in Pennsylvania, including Geisinger Medical Center; Geisinger Community Medical Center; Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center; Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital and Geisinger Lewistown Hospital.

The top 10 baby names across all of Geisinger’s hospitals in Pennsylvania are:

Girls:
1. Ave
2.Sophia
3. Emma
4. Harper
5. Olivia
6. Evelyn
7. Aurora
8. Amelia
9. Charlotte
10. Isabella

Boys:
1. Liam
2. Mason
3. Noah
4. Owen
5. Oliver
6. Lucas
7. Wyatt
8. Jackson
9. Carson
10. Carter

Below are some of the top names at individual Geisinger hospitals:

Geisinger Medical Center, Danville – 1,821 babies 
Girls:
1. Emma
2. Harper
3. Charlotte
4. Riley
5. Isabella

Boys:
1. Liam
2. Oliver
3. Owen
4. Noah
5. Mason

Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre – 1,749 babies
Girls:
1. Ava
2. Sophia
3. Madison
4. Ella
5. Luna
6. Harper

Boys:
1. Liam
2. Noah
3. Ethan
4. Jacob
5. Wyatt
6. Lucas

Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital, Bloomsburg – 406 babies
Girls:
1. Evelyn
2. Harper
3. Aurora
4. Paisley
5. Piper

Boys:
1. Mason
2. Lincoln
3. Benjamin
4. Grayson
5. Carson

Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, Lewistown – 496 babies
Girls:
1. Lilian
2. Anna
3. Ellie
4.Paisley
5. Piper

Boys:
1. Owen
2. Mason
3. Carter
4. Layne
5. William

Geisinger Community Medical Center, Scranton – 473 babies
Girls:
1. Aurora
2. Alice
3. Noelle
4. Abigail
5. Melanie

Boys:
1. Noah
2. Oliver
3. William
4. Jackson
5. Luca

These results combine different spelling variations of the same name. For example, the ranking for Liam includes variations like Liamm, and Oliver includes variations such as Olliver.

At Geisinger, obstetrician/gynecologists and certified nurse-midwives work together to comfort and care for mothers-to-be and their babies, and expectant moms can tailor their birth plans according to their preferences. Midwives facilitate natural birth plans, and OB/GYNs will be on duty at all hours to intervene when needed.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic contributed toward the change in the way families made decisions in 2020.

“Most people are largely still afraid of becoming pregnant during this pandemic,” said Dr. J. Manuel Arreguin, chief of obstetrics and gynecology in Geisinger’s northeast region. “There’s so much that we are still learning from this virus. Unfortunately, there’s lots of misinformation, too, that dissuades our families from concluding that this is the right time to have more children.”

With locations throughout central, northeast and western Pennsylvania, Geisinger’s pregnancy and childbirth team provides comprehensive care for moms and little ones. Visit geisinger.org/PregnancyHub to find out more.