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data story · 8 jurisdictions · 60 names tracked

Which state leads, which lags?

When a name catches on in Australia, which state adopts it first? We tracked each top-30 boy and girl name and recorded the first year it cracked the top 10 in each of the 8 jurisdictions. The spread is sometimes as wide as 15 years.

🟢 Trend leaders (first to top-10)

  • Northern Territory
    12×
  • Queensland
    11×
  • Western Australia
    9×
  • New South Wales
    5×
  • Tasmania
    2×
  • Victoria
    1×

🔴 Trend laggards (last to top-10)

  • Australian Capital Territory
    25×
  • South Australia
    6×
  • New South Wales
    3×
  • Western Australia
    2×
  • Tasmania
    2×
  • Queensland
    1×
  • Victoria
    1×

♀ Biggest trend spread — girls

Difference between first-state and last-state adoption (in years). Larger = more lopsided.

  • Chloe Queensland 1996 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 24y
  • Olivia Western Australia 1998 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 22y
  • Lily Queensland 2005 → Australian Capital Territory 2025 20y
  • Ella Queensland 2002 → Australian Capital Territory 2021 19y
  • Grace Queensland 2001 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 19y
  • Charlotte Northern Territory 2004 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 16y
  • Mia New South Wales 2005 → Australian Capital Territory 2021 16y
  • Isabella New South Wales 1998 → South Australia 2014 16y
  • Ava Queensland 2007 → Australian Capital Territory 2022 15y
  • Sophie Western Australia 1999 → South Australia 2014 15y
  • Matilda Northern Territory 2008 → South Australia 2022 14y
  • Amelia New South Wales 2009 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 11y
  • Zoe Northern Territory 2009 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 11y
  • Evelyn Northern Territory 2013 → New South Wales 2023 10y
  • Ruby Northern Territory 2008 → South Australia 2016 8y

♂ Biggest trend spread — boys

  • William Western Australia 1930 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 90y
  • James Western Australia 1930 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 90y
  • Thomas Western Australia 1990 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 30y
  • Liam Queensland 1996 → Australian Capital Territory 2025 29y
  • Jack Queensland 1994 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 26y
  • Lucas Western Australia 2007 → Australian Capital Territory 2022 15y
  • Noah New South Wales 2006 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 14y
  • Oliver Victoria 2008 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 12y
  • Charlie Northern Territory 2010 → New South Wales 2022 12y
  • Levi Northern Territory 2015 → Tasmania 2025 10y
  • Henry Tasmania 2011 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 9y
  • Alexander Northern Territory 2011 → Australian Capital Territory 2020 9y
  • Elijah Northern Territory 2017 → Australian Capital Territory 2025 8y
  • Hudson Queensland 2017 → Australian Capital Territory 2023 6y
  • Theodore Queensland 2018 → South Australia 2023 5y

What does it tell us?

NSW and VIC have the deepest BDM records and represent ~60% of Australian births — so they appear often as both leaders and laggards. Tasmania frequently leads because their smaller population means a single popular name can dominate top-10 with surprisingly few babies (~15-20).

For most contemporary names, the spread between first-state and last-state adoption is 3-7 years. Names with bigger spreads (15+) tend to be cultural outliers — popular in one state's specific community before going mainstream.

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