Fertility and baby names, 2025
Released: 2026-09-23
Canada's fertility holds steady in 2025
In 2025, Canada's total fertility rate (TFR) was unchanged at 1.26 children per woman. It was identical to the all-time low observed in 2024.
The general decline in the fertility rate began in 2009, with a sharper drop from 2017 to 2023 (-4.0% on average excluding 2021, when an increase was recorded). The rate posted a smaller decline in 2024 (-0.8%), then plateaued in 2025.
Chart 1
Total fertility rate, Canada, 2007 to 2025
The overall long-term decline in fertility is not unique to Canada. In 2025, among 20 selected high-income countries, Canada had the seventh-lowest TFR. The United States (1.57 children per woman) had the highest TFR, followed by Iceland and France (1.56 children per woman each). In contrast, South Korea had the lowest TFR, at 0.80 children per woman. Canada's TFR was near the middle of this group for many years but began shifting toward the countries with the lowest fertility in 2018.
Chart 2
Total fertility rate, selected high-income countries, 2025
The majority of Canadian provinces and territories (8 of 13) recorded all-time low TFRs in 2025, specifically: Nunavut (2.40 children per woman), Saskatchewan (1.58; the same rate as in 2024), Manitoba (1.50), the Northwest Territories (1.28), New Brunswick (1.21), Newfoundland and Labrador (1.08), Nova Scotia (1.07) and Yukon (1.02). For the first time, Yukon had the lowest TFR of all the provinces and territories, a position which had been held by British Columbia (1.04) from 2013 to 2024.
In Canada, the average age of mothers at childbirth has been continuously increasing for nearly five decades. In 2025, the average age of mothers at the birth of their child reached a new high of 31.9 years, up from 26.7 years in 1976.
To explore the fertility data further and visualize the indicators most relevant to you, you can consult the product Fertility indicators, provinces and territories: Interactive dashboard.
Noah and Charlotte top the list of most popular baby names in 2025
In 2025, Charlotte topped the list of most popular names for girls for the first time, ending a nine-year reign for Olivia. Both names have ranked among the top three for girls, Charlotte since 2015 and Olivia since 2007.
Noah continued to be the most popular name for boys in 2025, for the fifth consecutive year. It entered the list of top 10 boy names in 2005 and has remained there ever since.
Infographic 1
Top 10 baby names, by sex at birth and rank, Canada, 2024 and 2025
In 2025, Nora entered the top 10 girl names for the first time, replacing Ava. Aside from 2023, Ava had been among the 10 most popular girl names since 2005.
Among the top 10 names for boys, Theodore and Thomas rose in popularity in 2025. James and Lucas became somewhat less popular, with James falling out of the top 10 in 2025. In contrast, Jack returned to the list after being out for a year.
Use our interactive dashboard Baby Names Observatory to search names of interest, compare across years and explore baby name trends.
Note to readers
Data sources
The fertility indicators are calculated using birth data from the Canadian Vital Statistics – Birth database (3231), the Quarterly Demographic Estimates and the Annual Demographic Estimates: Canada, Provinces and Territories.
Fertility and baby name indicators for a given reference year may be revised to reflect the most current population estimates and vital statistics data available.
The total fertility rate (TFR) of Germany in 2025 was obtained from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) (https://www.destatis.de/EN/Press/2026/07/PE26_230_12.html?templateQueryString=total+fertility+rate). The TFR of England and Wales in 2025 was obtained from the Office for National Statistics (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/birthsummarytablesenglandandwales/2025). The TFR of Austria in 2025 was obtained from Statistics Austria (https://www.statistik.at/en/statistics/population-and-society/population/demographic-indicators-and-tables/demographic-indicators-time-series). The TFR of South Korea in 2025 was obtained from the Korean Statistical Information Service (https://kosis.kr/eng/). The TFR of Denmark in 2025 was obtained from Statistics Denmark (https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/borgere/befolkning/fertilitet). The TFR of Spain in 2025 was estimated using data from the National Statistics Institute based on the number of total births in 2025 (https://ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177079&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735573002), the disaggregation of births by mother's age in 2024 (https://ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=31932), the total population of women on July 1, 2025 (https://ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177095&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735572981), and the disaggregation of the population of women aged 15 to 49 on January 1, 2025 (https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=56934&L=1). The TFR of the United States in 2025 was obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The TFR of Finland in 2025 was obtained from Statistics Finland (https://stat.fi/en/statistics/synt#keyfigures). The TFR of France in 2025 was obtained from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/8726555). The TFR of Ireland in 2025 was obtained from the Central Statistics Office (https://data.cso.ie/). The TFR of Iceland in 2025 was obtained from Statistics Iceland (https://px.hagstofa.is/pxen/pxweb/en/Ibuar/Ibuar__Faeddirdanir__Faeddir__faedingar/MAN05202.px/). The TFR of Italy in 2025 was obtained from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (https://www.istat.it/en/press-release/demographic-indicators-year-2025). The TFR of Japan in 2025 was obtained from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, public demographic statistics (https://www.mhlw.go.jp/index.html). The TFR of Luxembourg in 2025 was obtained from STATEC (https://lustat.statec.lu/?lc=en&tm=DF_B2207&pg=0&snb=1). The TFR of Norway in 2025 was obtained from Statistics Norway (https://www.ssb.no/en/statbank/table/04232). The TFR of the Netherlands in 2025 was sourced from Statistics Netherlands (https://opendata.cbs.nl/#/CBS/en/dataset/85722ENG/table). The TFR of Singapore in 2025 was obtained from the Department of Statistics Singapore (https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/table/TS/M810091). The TFR of Sweden in 2025 was obtained from Statistics Sweden (https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101H/FruktsamhetSum//). The TFR of Switzerland in 2025 was obtained from the Swiss Federal Statistics Office (https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/births-deaths.html).
Baby name indicators are based on data from Statistics Canada's Canadian Vital Statistics – Birth database (CVSB) and Retraite Québec's List of Baby Names (French only). For Quebec, the database includes all infants who were eligible for family benefits.
Definitions
The total fertility rate (TFR) is an estimate of the average number of live births a woman can be expected to have in her lifetime, based on the age-specific fertility rates of a given year. The total fertility rate is the sum of age-specific fertility rates for a given year, divided by 1,000.
The average age at childbearing refers to the average (or mean) age of mothers at the birth of their child for a given year. The age of a mother is considered her age attained at her last birthday preceding delivery. The average age is calculated by summing the single-age fertility rates that have been multiplied by the mid-year age, then dividing this sum by the total fertility rate. Births to mothers whose age is unknown were prorated using the observed distribution.
Baby name refers to the name which appears first in the full given name recorded in the data source. Missing first names, those composed of a single letter and those with a frequency less than five are excluded. In the source data, names are presented in a format in which an accented letter is replaced with the unaccented version of the letter. First names that include a hyphen are kept as is.
High-income countries are defined as countries whose gross national income per capita, calculated according to the World Bank Atlas method, is more than $14,375 in the 2027 fiscal year. For more information, consult the page WDI – The World by Income and Region.
Products
The product Fertility indicators, provinces and territories: Interactive dashboard (71-607-X) has been updated.
The product Baby Names Observatory (71-607-X) has also been updated.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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