Albion Park mum Robyn Firmin has known for years that she would name her first child Noah if her baby was a boy.
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So, when the time came to do so last year, that's exactly what she did - giving little thought to how popular the name was among her Noah's peers.
So, she said, it was quite a surprise to see her son's name at the top of the list for 2022's most popular baby boy's names in the Illawarra.
"It does surprise me - this is a name that I've liked ever since wanting kids myself, and it was also the only name me and my partner could agree on," she said.
"It was my favourite name as a child, and I always thought if I had a boy first his name would be Noah. I reckon it's a great name.
"We tried to find a name that you couldn't shorten or turn into something else, and no other name popped out."
The Illawarra has bucked the trend when it comes to the most popular baby names, with the state favourite boy's name Oliver being pipped by Noah.
The rest of the boys' top 10 list includes mostly traditional names which also appeared on the state's top 10: William, Theodore, Leo, Charlie, Thomas and Jack . The outliers were Levi and Hudson, which were ninth and 10th in the Illawarra but didn't appear in the NSW top 10 (with Henry and Luca making list instead).
For girls, the state's sixth most popular name - Ava, was the top pick for Illawarra parents in 2022, with the state's top pick - Charlotte, coming in third in the region.
The second most popular name in the Illawarra was Remi, which appeared nowhere in the state's top 10, and others on the region's list were Matilda, Ivy, Ruby, Isla, Olivia, Willow and Mia.
State favourites Amelia, Ella, Sienna and Chloe did not make the region's top 10 list.
Oak Flats mum Brianna Deaves said she was shocked by Ava's popularity, as she hadn't encountered any other baby Avas when choosing her now four-month-old's name.
"But I think it's a lovely name and I'm glad there's quite a few of them," she said.
"I've just always really liked the name, it was small, short and sweet, so I liked it."
Both mums said they weren't worried about their chosen names' popularity, or the fact that their kids would likely share the schoolyard with others bearing their names.
Ms Firmin said her 10-month-old Noah had already encountered at least one other child named Noah, at daycare, but that the popularity didn't worry her.
"I actually like the idea of it if anything," she said.
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
