New Zealand's Number One Baby Names, Year by Year
Only two names can claim the top spot each year - one for girls, one for boys. This is the honour roll: the number one baby name in Aotearoa for every year in the registration data, straight from Department of Internal Affairs figures.
How the top spot changes hands
Number one names tend to reign for runs of several years before a challenger takes over. When you scan the table, look for those streaks - they map neatly onto the broader naming eras you can see on each name's profile page.
Counts are babies registered with that name in that calendar year. Small margins near the top mean a single busy maternity ward can, in theory, tip the outcome.