Millcreek Township couple explain how they named their newborn daughter
Linda Chalas said she and her husband, Mike, named their daughter Lydia Michaela after seeing the names in the Bible.
- The most popular baby names at Saint Vincent Hospital in 2024 were Oliver for boys and Olivia for girls.
- The popularity of baby names tends to change over time, with some parents now choosing names honoring their grandparents or great-grandparents.
Jill O’Connor, R.N., has heard many proposed baby names over her 11-year career as a labor and delivery/maternity nurse at Saint Vincent Hospital.
She even has named one newborn herself.
“It was years ago, shortly after I started,” said O’Connor, a unit nurse manager. “There was a young mom, a teen, who didn’t know she was pregnant until shortly before her delivery. She didn’t have any idea what she wanted to name her baby, so she asked me. I said that I always like Reagan. She liked it, too, and that’s what she named the baby.”
Reagan is not an unusual name but it didn’t rank among the most common ones given to babies born at Saint Vincent Hospital in 2024. It’s the first time the Erie hospital has published a list, though its parent organization, Allegheny Health Network, does it every year.
What were the most common names parents gave their newborns last year at Saint Vincent? The top ones were Oliver for boys and Olivia for girls — which both come from the Latin word for olive or olive tree planter.
They are not just popular names for Saint Vincent babies. They ranked at the top of both AHN lists and are among the most common nationwide for the past several years.
What were the other popular baby names in 2024?
Here are the rest of Saint Vincent’s most common baby names in 2024:
Boys
Girls
Millcreek Township couple chooses biblical names for daughter
Linda and Mike Chalas, of Millcreek Township, put a lot of thought into what they were going to name their baby daughter, who was born Wednesday at Saint Vincent.
They ended up choosing Lydia Michaela Chalas for the adorable 5-pound, 14-ounce baby.
“I had really liked Michaela, then Mike was reading the Bible and he came across Lydia, who was a worshipper of God,” Linda Chalas said. “We switched them and that works because Michaela means ‘gift from God.’ Now she has the same initials that I do.”
O’Connor said she has seen baby name trends ebb and flow over the past 11 years.
“We’re now seeing a lot of names referring back to the couple’s grandparents or great-grandparents, like Evelyn or Walter,” O’Connor said. “It’s different after seeing a lot of Aidens, Jadens and Cadens.”
Contact David Bruce at [email protected]. Follow him on X @ETNBruce.
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