Top 100 Baby Names
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Tracking Baby Names
Every year, the Social Security Administration takes the pulse of the nation and satisfies the curiosity of many a would-be trend spotter.
Here's the burning question that the records of the federal government are uniquely primed to answer authoritatively: What in the world are people naming their children?
The Social Security Administration recently made available the most recent set of baby name statistics, covering births in 2008.
Baby Emma, Baby Jacob
Look out for a burgeoning coterie of Emmas and Jacobs among the toddlers you're likely to meet over the next few years.
Out of about 4.2 million births in the United States in 2008 (as tracked through applications for social security numbers), 18,587 of the baby girls were named Emma and 22,272 of the baby boys were named Jacob.
Fifty years ago, in 1958, the top names for newborns were Mary and Michael. Twenty-five years ago, in 1983, the most popular names were Jennifer and Michael.
Here is the latest list of the top 100 names for boys and girls.
TOP 100 NAMES FOR BOYS
- Jacob
- Michael
- Ethan
- Joshua
- Daniel
- Alexander
- Anthony
- William
- Christopher
- Matthew
- Jayden
- Andrew
- Joseph
- David
- Noah
- Aiden
- James
- Ryan
- Logan
- John
- Nathan
- Elijah
- Christian
- Gabriel
- Benjamin
- Jonathan
- Tyler
- Samuel
- Nicholas
- Gavin
- Dylan
- Jackson
- Brandon
- Caleb
- Mason
- Angel
- Isaac
- Evan
- Jack
- Kevin
- Jose
- Isaiah
- Luke
- Landon
- Justin
- Lucas
- Zachary
- Jordan
- Robert
- Aaron
- Brayden
- Thomas
- Cameron
- Hunter
- Austin
- Adrian
- Connor
- Owen
- Aidan
- Jason
- Julian
- Wyatt
- Charles
- Luis
- Carter
- Juan
- Chase
- Diego
- Jeremiah
- Brody
- Xavier
- Adam
- Carlos
- Sebastian
- Liam
- Hayden
- Nathaniel
- Henry
- Jesus
- Ian
- Tristan
- Bryan
- Sean
- Cole
- Alex
- Eric
- Brian
- Jaden
- Carson
- Blake
- Ayden
- Cooper
- Dominic
- Brady
- Caden
- Josiah
- Kyle
- Colton
- Kaden
- Eli
TOP 100 NAMES FOR GIRLS
- Emma
- Isabella
- Emily
- Madison
- Ava
- Olivia
- Sophia
- Abigail
- Elizabeth
- Chloe
- Samantha
- Addison
- Natalie
- Mia
- Alexis
- Alyssa
- Hannah
- Ashley
- Ella
- Sarah
- Grace
- Taylor
- Brianna
- Lily
- Hailey
- Anna
- Victoria
- Kayla
- Lillian
- Lauren
- Kaylee
- Allison
- Savannah
- Nevaeh
- Gabriella
- Sofia
- Makayla
- Avery
- Riley
- Julia
- Leah
- Aubrey
- Jasmine
- Audrey
- Katherine
- Morgan
- Brooklyn
- Destiny
- Sydney
- Alexa
- Kylie
- Brooke
- Kaitlyn
- Evelyn
- Layla
- Madeline
- Kimberly
- Zoe
- Jessica
- Peyton
- Alexandra
- Claire
- Madelyn
- Maria
- Mackenzie
- Arianna
- Jocelyn
- Amelia
- Angelina
- Trinity
- Andrea
- Maya
- Valeria
- Sophie
- Rachel
- Vanessa
- Aaliyah
- Mariah
- Gabrielle
- Katelyn
- Ariana
- Bailey
- Camila
- Jennifer
- Melanie
- Gianna
- Charlotte
- Paige
- Autumn
- Payton
- Faith
- Sara
- Isabelle
- Carolina
- Genesis
- Isabel
- Mary
- Zoey
- Gracie
- Megan
More Name Numbers
- Top 5 Names Over the Last 100 Years
For endless fun tracking changing naming preferences, this is the place. Some of the Social Security Administration baby name data dates back to the late 1800s.
BABY NAME POLL
Would kind of name woud you rather have?
See results without votingTop 100 Baby Names in the News
- Saratoga Springs residents step up to help baby with leukemiaProvo Daily Herald1 second ago
SARATOGA SPRINGS — On June 18, 6-month-old Odette Schiess was a happy, smiling baby, with seemingly no health problems — just a rash on the lower halves of her legs.
- Baby names reflect that miracles do happenToronto Star2 days ago
Daniele Capozzi got a call at work on a Friday, six weeks before the baby was due. His wife, Giovanna, was to have an emergency caesarean. Their son arrived the next day, last Sept. 12, weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces.
- The Names Ring a Few BellsNew York Times3 days ago
As starters for the University of Colorado women’s basketball team, Whitney Houston and Brittany Spears share the names, if not the spellings, of two far more famous entertainers.
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Comments
There are so many names to choose from...I'll tell you what I refuse to do to my kid:
1) Name him/her a name that he/she will be punished for in school by other children: Chance, Maury, Gilligan, Moonbeam, Jezebel, etc.
2) Name him/her after a inanimate object, number, or car: Corvette, Soda, Gremlin, Seven, Porsche, Thirteen, Salsa, etc.
3) Name him/her after a President of the U.S.: Nixon, Garfield, Reagan, Ike, etc.
I think I can come up with a few original ones myself! Thank you!
oh, my children's names are not in the list... but that means they're unique, or common?
Thanks for this Hub! I always like to see what the new popular names are. When I was a baby, my name was one of the most popular... Now it see they are names that I rarely saw in my youth! I do love the name "Ava", though :)
I liked your poll at the end. So true that some names do give away your age more than others. I remember when "Jasmine" and "Ariel" were popular because they were Disney heroines of the time.
It's interesting to me that the boys' list still includes all the classics (James, John, William, Andrew, Charles, Robert, Michael, etc.) But the girls' list has very, very few of what I consider the "classic" girl names. What happened to Catherine, Patricia, Debbie, Cathy, Barbara, Susan -- the old fashioned names? Guess they will come back into vogue some other year:-).
BTW to Dohn above. I have a cat named Gremlin:-). True.
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easy1 says:
3 months ago
I was thinking of calling our little girl Chardonnay,great hub.