Victoria, B.C.- According to the B.C. Vital Statistics Agency, the number of births in the Province was up in 2011, with 43,991, that’s 321 more than the 43,670 births recorded in 2010.

The Agency also reports the most common names  in 2011 were Liam and Emma.

For Boys, the top five names were Liam, Ethan, Mason, Lucas and Benjamin.  The top five names for girls were Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Ava and Chloe.

There is good news for all those babies, as the life expectancy in B.C. is now 82 years, the longest in Canada.

The provincial population also grew naturally by 12,215 in 2011, or at rate of 2.7 per thousand, not counting migration.

The report also states the total number of deaths in B.C. in 2011 was 31,776, up from 31,151 in 2010. The leading cause of death was cancer. The oldest person to die in British Columbia in 2011 lived to be 112.

The number of HIV deaths continues to fall in B.C. In 2011, there were 59 HIV deaths, down from 253 in 1996.

The 140th edition of the British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency Annual Report contains information collected from registrations of  births, deaths and marriages that happened in 2011. Information from the report is used for various aspects of health planning, research
and education.

On a typical day in B.C. in 2011:

Births:
* There were 121 births.
* 62 males and 59 females were born.
* Three babies were born to teenage mothers.
* 28 babies were born to mothers aged 35 years old or more.

Marriages:
* There were 60 marriages.
* One marriage every 10 days was a teen couple.

Deaths:
* 87 deaths occurred.
* 45 males and 42 females died.
* 25 deaths were due to cancer.
* Three deaths were from pneumonia and influenza.