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Ministry of Health
VITAL STATISTICS INFORMATION BOX
MOST CHOSEN FIRST NAMES FOR BABIES IN 1999
In 1999, Matthew and Emily were the most chosen names for babies in British Columbia. Among the names chosen for 5 or more babies, there were 565 different names for boys and 635 names for girls. This list is available from the B.C. Vital Statistics Agency or from the Agency's website (http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/babynames/index.html).

Over the past decade, there has been a growing trend for alternate spellings of names, especially for girls. If different spellings of the same names were considered, the 20 most popular baby boy names would include 189 boys with Breydon, Braeden, Braden, Braydon, Braiden, or Braedon, and 186 with Christopher, Kristopher, or Kristofer. The 20 most chosen baby girl names would include 229 girls with Caitlyn, Caitlin, Kaitlyn, Katelyn, Kaitlin, Katelynn, or Kaitlynn, 203 girls with Hailey, Haley, Hayley, Haylee, Hailee, or Haylie, and 139 girls with Brianna, Breanna, or Briana.

Most Common  SpellingTotal*Other Spellings of Name Total for all  Variations
Boys' Names
Matthew360Mathew, Mathieu403
Joshua319319
Jacob317Jakob360
Nicholas295Nicolas, Nikolas, Nickolas,  Nicklaus392
Ryan251251
Brandon239Branden, Brandyn, Brandan273
Michael231Micheal245
Jordan227Jordon233
Alexander221221
Liam217217
Kyle212212
Tyler207Tylor213
Benjamin207207
Daniel199199
Justin194194
Andrew191191
William190190
Austin182Austyn, Austen196
Cameron180Kameron185
Noah179179
Girls' Names
Emily279Emilie292
Sarah265Sara327
Emma254254
Hannah237Hanna, Hana281
Taylor216Tayler228
Jessica214214
Megan202Meghan, Meagan, Meaghan, Maegan270
Samantha179179
Ashley154Ashlee, Ashleigh172
Madison146Maddison, Madisen, Madyson170
Olivia134134
Rachel132Rachael149
Lauren131Lauryn151
Nicole119119
Sydney116Sidney138
Julia111111
Amanda111111
Alyssa104Alissa, Elissa116
Kayla100Kaila110
Grace100100

Note: *Total for the name as spelled.