I’ve been waiting for this day before we officially name our twins! Thanks for posting! Feels like Christmas, except when you don’t get the presents you really wanted {all my favorite names jumped in popularity}. Oh well!
I was super excited to see Huxley jumped into the top 1000. Now I have to figure out how to make it okay to have a Huxley when I already have a Finn without people immediately thinking Huck Finn…
Things I noted on first glance:
London is #105 for girls and 605 for boys, and Londyn is 160 for girls.
Hayden – 151 for boys, 190 for girls
Iris and June both in the 200s, but Beatrice #565, and Beatrix not ranked in top 1000.
Remington is 299 for boys, 622 for girls (so people are naming their daughters Remington. Interesting)
Lennox also appears for both genders in top 1000.
Khaleesi is #816. More people are naming their daughters Khaleesi than, well, every single name ranked after that.
Analia jumped over 200 spots, entering the top 1000. Holy moly. Does anyone know a baby by this name? I’m wondering whether people are generally pronouncing it Anna-leah or A-NAIL-ya/A-NAHL-ya (more like Amelia), or, perhaps, whether it’s being used predominantly by non-English speakers? Because I am finding it hard to imagine that many primarily English-speaking people are okay with the first four letters.
I thought Daenerys might get some play too, given the popularity of Khaleesi, but nope.
Also very startled by the popularity of Messiah for boys (#243 – that’s 1509 Messiahs in 2015). That’s a lot of Messiahs, and an awful lot to live up to.
THIS IS SO EXCITING! Usually they announce it the Monday after Mother’s Day, so I was anticipating having to sneak glances at it while at work. Now I have the whole weekend to savor.
However—is anyone else mildly disappointed by how *static* the top 10 seems to have become? Short of some shuffling and the introduction of Harper and Charlotte (Bye Madison, Bye Chloe), the girls’ list hasn’t changed much since…2008? The boys’ list has added Benjamin, Liam, Mason, and Noah since then.
I read elsewhere that this is Benjamin’s first time in the top 10– really shocking to me considering the number of Bens I’ve known over the years.
I’m glad my all-time favorite Alice is holding steady, not too extremely changed from last year– it went up 10 spots and approx. 300 more births (about a 10% increase). I was slightly concerned it would go top 10, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Surprises: Sadie falling a few notches. I guess it was pop culture linked? I was really hoping to see Sadie in the top 20– it’s such a fresh, sprightly name, and was underused severely for a couple of decades.
Elsa! It dropped off 50% from its 2014 numbers. Curious to see where it will be for 2016.
Zelda climbing so rapidly– is there a pop culture influence I’m not aware of?
I’m happy Maeve, Pearl, and Rose, three other favorites, are also stable.
Boys’ side– Oliver finally top 20 at 19! A 13-spot jump! Not surprising—I know several under the age of 4 (anecdotally, by far the most common name, male or female, among children I know). Last year Oliver was 32, Henry 33, and I expected them to rise in tandem, but now Oliver has clearly pulled ahead. Henry is 29 this year.
To clarify: I meant I was wondering if Alice would eventually (say, in 5-10 years’ time) reach top 10, like Charlotte and Abigail. But I have a feeling it will creep towards top 50 on a much slower track until the vintage name trend wanes.
Totally with you on the “Emma, Sophia, and Olivia AGAIN?” thing. As lovely as these names may be individually, I’ve reached the point where I’m hoping some major national event knocks at least a few of the veteran top 10ers out of the running in the near future. Just to shake things up. I’ve reached the point where, when I meet a little girl with one of these names, I see an immediate vision of all three names listed in my mind’s eye. They’re becoming linked together for me, like my own personal Jaden/Caden/Aiden.
I’m just sort of mystified and curious–why these particular examples of the general trend, and not say, Amelia, or Victoria. Victoria interests me because it’s had a really unusual arc–it’s mostly hovered in the 20s since 1991 (!!). It peaked at 16 in 1998/99, dipped to 32 in 2010, and now it’s back at #20. I think it is used a lot in Latino families but I can’t figure out what the influences are, or what the girls are being called. Vicky and Tori both seem pretty dated as nicknames, but maybe not!
I’m also waiting and waiting for some newness in the girl top 10!
Anyone even mentions to me they’re naming their baby EmmaSophiaOlivia I’m like “sighhhhhh*yawwwwwnnnnn*… sorry!”
Looking at names I have been hearing a lot in my area, there aren’t too many surprises.
Expected changes:
– Floral names on the rise – Iris (up 27 spots), Violet (up 17), Rose (up 28);
– Great grandmother names on the rise – Stella (up 14); Hazel (up 42); Cora (up 15), June (up 37);
– Cowboy names on the rise – Maverick (up 22), Wyatt (up 5);
– Presidential names on the rise – Lincoln (up 21), Reagan (moving into top 100);
– Nickname Names declining – Molly (down 22) Sadie (down 6), Katie (down 29).,
I was surprised that:
– Luna jumped 33 spots and is close to the top 100;
-Emmett is continuing its steady rise jumping 17 spots;
– George is not really moving despite the young royal and the popularity of grandparent names;
Somehow Luna’s rise doesn’t surprise me too much–it was normalized during the peak Harry Potter popularity years for a generation of kids and teens who are now having families themselves. It also has the right, on trend, 2-syllable sound (like Emma, Ella, Lily, Mia, Ava, etc.) And it feels vintage. All on trend!
With George I think it’s a sound thing…except for James, top boys’ names seem to be at least 2 syllables. And maybe George still reads too “dad”, like Richard, Jeff, Paul?
For me the biggest shock was Zelda–where did that jump come from?? Entering the top 1000 at 647!
It’s funny, I realized the other day that I haven’t encountered an Emma since I was growing up with one in my neighborhood in the 1980s. I’m an NYC-based mother of a toddler, and encounter many Olivias, Sophias, Avas, Isabelle/as, fewer Emilys, Charlottes, Harpers, and some but not many Mias or Abigails. But Emma, which is the number one, I’ve never encountered. My own idiosyncratic path through the naming landscape…
Re: Zelda. For me, the connection is unfortunately Robin Williams’ death. His daughter is named Zelda, and seeing a grownup with that name normalized it for me.
In other news, I just found out yesterday that we are expecting a baby girl! First baby. No ideas on names yet! Thanks for the link to the SSA data, I know what I’m doing this morning! :)
I’ve been waiting for this day before we officially name our twins! Thanks for posting! Feels like Christmas, except when you don’t get the presents you really wanted {all my favorite names jumped in popularity}. Oh well!
I was super excited to see Huxley jumped into the top 1000. Now I have to figure out how to make it okay to have a Huxley when I already have a Finn without people immediately thinking Huck Finn…
Yesss! I was looking for something to keep me occupied these last couple hours of the workweek. #employeeoftheyear
My favorite girl name was in the 900s last year (it’s first ever appearance), but dropped out completely this year. I am just fine with that.
Things I noted on first glance:
London is #105 for girls and 605 for boys, and Londyn is 160 for girls.
Hayden – 151 for boys, 190 for girls
Iris and June both in the 200s, but Beatrice #565, and Beatrix not ranked in top 1000.
Remington is 299 for boys, 622 for girls (so people are naming their daughters Remington. Interesting)
Lennox also appears for both genders in top 1000.
Khaleesi is #816. More people are naming their daughters Khaleesi than, well, every single name ranked after that.
I got a horrified/excited feeling when I thought I saw Laundry on there but it’s actually Landry.
And I’m just starting to dive into this https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/rankchange.html
Wow! I don’t remember seeing this before. My daughter Thea’s name jumped over 300 spots!
Interestingly the name John didn’t even move one spot. Still 26, and been right around there for a while now.
Meilani jumping 1,836 spots.. I feel like we can thank the Jersey Shores JWoww for that one
Analia jumped over 200 spots, entering the top 1000. Holy moly. Does anyone know a baby by this name? I’m wondering whether people are generally pronouncing it Anna-leah or A-NAIL-ya/A-NAHL-ya (more like Amelia), or, perhaps, whether it’s being used predominantly by non-English speakers? Because I am finding it hard to imagine that many primarily English-speaking people are okay with the first four letters.
I thought Daenerys might get some play too, given the popularity of Khaleesi, but nope.
Also very startled by the popularity of Messiah for boys (#243 – that’s 1509 Messiahs in 2015). That’s a lot of Messiahs, and an awful lot to live up to.
Atticus was not affected by the release of that horrible book “Go Set A Watchman.”
Hazel broke into the top 100. This name seems to have just darted up the charts. Not a name I would use, but I love hearing it on the playground.
Dash jumped up 182 spots in the rankings to #766; Dashiell remains outside the top 1000.
I thought Otis might break into the top 1000 this year, but jumped in ranked at 848. Wow!
THIS IS SO EXCITING! Usually they announce it the Monday after Mother’s Day, so I was anticipating having to sneak glances at it while at work. Now I have the whole weekend to savor.
However—is anyone else mildly disappointed by how *static* the top 10 seems to have become? Short of some shuffling and the introduction of Harper and Charlotte (Bye Madison, Bye Chloe), the girls’ list hasn’t changed much since…2008? The boys’ list has added Benjamin, Liam, Mason, and Noah since then.
I read elsewhere that this is Benjamin’s first time in the top 10– really shocking to me considering the number of Bens I’ve known over the years.
I’m glad my all-time favorite Alice is holding steady, not too extremely changed from last year– it went up 10 spots and approx. 300 more births (about a 10% increase). I was slightly concerned it would go top 10, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Surprises: Sadie falling a few notches. I guess it was pop culture linked? I was really hoping to see Sadie in the top 20– it’s such a fresh, sprightly name, and was underused severely for a couple of decades.
Elsa! It dropped off 50% from its 2014 numbers. Curious to see where it will be for 2016.
Zelda climbing so rapidly– is there a pop culture influence I’m not aware of?
I’m happy Maeve, Pearl, and Rose, three other favorites, are also stable.
Boys’ side– Oliver finally top 20 at 19! A 13-spot jump! Not surprising—I know several under the age of 4 (anecdotally, by far the most common name, male or female, among children I know). Last year Oliver was 32, Henry 33, and I expected them to rise in tandem, but now Oliver has clearly pulled ahead. Henry is 29 this year.
To clarify: I meant I was wondering if Alice would eventually (say, in 5-10 years’ time) reach top 10, like Charlotte and Abigail. But I have a feeling it will creep towards top 50 on a much slower track until the vintage name trend wanes.
Totally with you on the “Emma, Sophia, and Olivia AGAIN?” thing. As lovely as these names may be individually, I’ve reached the point where I’m hoping some major national event knocks at least a few of the veteran top 10ers out of the running in the near future. Just to shake things up. I’ve reached the point where, when I meet a little girl with one of these names, I see an immediate vision of all three names listed in my mind’s eye. They’re becoming linked together for me, like my own personal Jaden/Caden/Aiden.
I’m just sort of mystified and curious–why these particular examples of the general trend, and not say, Amelia, or Victoria. Victoria interests me because it’s had a really unusual arc–it’s mostly hovered in the 20s since 1991 (!!). It peaked at 16 in 1998/99, dipped to 32 in 2010, and now it’s back at #20. I think it is used a lot in Latino families but I can’t figure out what the influences are, or what the girls are being called. Vicky and Tori both seem pretty dated as nicknames, but maybe not!
I know one child named Victoria, and she goes by Tia.
I also know of one Tori, but that is her given name, not a nickname.
the one Victoria I know goes by Ria.
I’m also waiting and waiting for some newness in the girl top 10!
Anyone even mentions to me they’re naming their baby EmmaSophiaOlivia I’m like “sighhhhhh*yawwwwwnnnnn*… sorry!”
Looking at names I have been hearing a lot in my area, there aren’t too many surprises.
Expected changes:
– Floral names on the rise – Iris (up 27 spots), Violet (up 17), Rose (up 28);
– Great grandmother names on the rise – Stella (up 14); Hazel (up 42); Cora (up 15), June (up 37);
– Cowboy names on the rise – Maverick (up 22), Wyatt (up 5);
– Presidential names on the rise – Lincoln (up 21), Reagan (moving into top 100);
– Nickname Names declining – Molly (down 22) Sadie (down 6), Katie (down 29).,
I was surprised that:
– Luna jumped 33 spots and is close to the top 100;
-Emmett is continuing its steady rise jumping 17 spots;
– George is not really moving despite the young royal and the popularity of grandparent names;
Somehow Luna’s rise doesn’t surprise me too much–it was normalized during the peak Harry Potter popularity years for a generation of kids and teens who are now having families themselves. It also has the right, on trend, 2-syllable sound (like Emma, Ella, Lily, Mia, Ava, etc.) And it feels vintage. All on trend!
With George I think it’s a sound thing…except for James, top boys’ names seem to be at least 2 syllables. And maybe George still reads too “dad”, like Richard, Jeff, Paul?
For me the biggest shock was Zelda–where did that jump come from?? Entering the top 1000 at 647!
It’s funny, I realized the other day that I haven’t encountered an Emma since I was growing up with one in my neighborhood in the 1980s. I’m an NYC-based mother of a toddler, and encounter many Olivias, Sophias, Avas, Isabelle/as, fewer Emilys, Charlottes, Harpers, and some but not many Mias or Abigails. But Emma, which is the number one, I’ve never encountered. My own idiosyncratic path through the naming landscape…
Re: Zelda. For me, the connection is unfortunately Robin Williams’ death. His daughter is named Zelda, and seeing a grownup with that name normalized it for me.
In other news, I just found out yesterday that we are expecting a baby girl! First baby. No ideas on names yet! Thanks for the link to the SSA data, I know what I’m doing this morning! :)