Saskatchewan experienced an increase in the number of live births in the province in 2010. To date, there have been 14,978 live births registered in Saskatchewan in 2010, compared to 14,536 for 2009."This increase represents another year of growth for the province and is the highest number of births in 18 years," Minister responsible for ISC Tim McMillan said. "We haven't experienced this of level of births since 1992, when 14,992 live births were registered in Saskatchewan."
These numbers were compiled by Information Services Corporation (ISC), which administers the province's Vital Statistics Registry. ISC also compiles the most popular baby names in Saskatchewan each year. In 2010, Emma and Liam were the most popular names for babies born in Saskatchewan. Emma was also the number one name for baby girls in 2009. Liam, which was the second most popular name for baby boys in 2009, beat out Ethan as the most popular name for baby boys in 2010.
Ethan had been the number one name for baby boys for nine consecutive years; in 2010, Ethan fell to the number two spot. Jacob took the number three position; it has been a top 10 favourite since 2002.
Ava and Olivia were the second and third most popular names for baby girls born in 2010. Sophia, Sophie, Isabella and Sydney were added to the list of top 20 names for baby girls, while Hailey, Grace, Addison and Taylor fell from the top 20. For baby boys, Hayden, Jack, Samuel, Andrew and Rylan made it into the top 20. Aiden, Joshua, Carson, Jayden and James dropped out of the top 20.
