Here at nameberry, we’re not so much in the business of tracking which names are popular now – the Social Security Administration does that more accurately than we ever could – but of predicting which names are going to be popular in the future.  The reason for all this prognosticating: Many parents want to know which names that sound fresh and stylish today might be in for overexposure tomorrow.

To that end, we’ve come up with our picks for the top baby names a decade from now.  Some of these are already rising rapidly through the ranks; others might still be considered cutting edge (but won’t be for long).  And because we’re not perfect, we give alternative choices for each slot.

Here, the top baby names for both girls and boys for 2019.

Girls

1.    AVA – Glamour Girl name beats out Eva along with other A names for top spot.  Runner up: AVERY or ADA.

2.    AMELIA – New spin on long-time number one Emily and contender Emma.  Runner up: EMILIA.

(more…)

We talk a lot about the influence of celebrity baby names on the general population of baby namers, but just how potent is that influence in actuality?  I thought it might be useful to  take a closer look at some celebrity choices and see if there was some way to quantify their impact.

Of course there are, inevitably, other factors involved in whether celebrity baby names become popular.  For instance, how high-profile is this celeb and how much has her child been seen in the media?  What are other influences surrounding  the name?  A popular character in a movie or TV show?  Is this a name that would have risen anyway, just as part of the zeitgeist or is it one that was never—or hardly ever—even heard before?  Is  it a vintage name that had been stored in the attic until it was brought out and sprinkled with some stardust?

Here are a few specific examples, giving the child’s and his or her celebrity parent’s name, the year of birth, and where the name ranked before, during and after its arrival.

AVA is an interesting case.  Previously seen as an outdated, elderlyish name, it first showed signs of a revival when used by Aidan Quinn in 1989, but he didn’t seem to have the voltage to elevate the name above the 800’s on the Social Security list.  Next came Heather Locklear, a major TV star at the time of her Ava’s birth in 1997: the name subsequently rose from #737 in 1995 to 259 in 1999.  But it was following the more highly publicized arrival of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe’s Ava-named daughter in 1999 that the name shot up to #133 two years later—and then all the way to #5 (and probably rising) last year.

HAZEL was another name that seemed to have little potential for a comeback when chosen by Julia Roberts for one of her twins in 2004.  It wasn’t even on the list in 1997, was at 681 when little Hazel Moder was born, but had risen to 359 three years later.

IRELAND is a clear-cut example of a name created by the celebrity culture, as it was unheard of when the daughter of Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin was born in 1995—a time when place names were heating up.  By last year, there were more baby girls named Ireland than there were named Tess, Tia or Tanya.

JADEN is another proof of the Starbaby Effect.  The son of Jada Pinkett and Will Smith was given this spin on the biblical Jadon in 1998, when it ranked #328; five years later it had zoomed to #82.  Jaden’s sister Willow’s name is also on the rise.

JAYDEN.  This spelling was already quite trendy when Britney Spears and Kevin Federline picked it for their son in 2006, but the maelstrom of  publicity swirling around Britney and her boys surely contributed to this version of the name reaching its current standing of  #11. (more…)

The biggest baby name news of 2009 was Emma’s rise to the number one spot for girls’ names, becoming only the ninth girls’ name in U.S. history to claim first place.

EMMA unseated EMILY, which slipped to number three, after a 12-year-reign.  ISABELLA moved up to number two, but if taken together with sister ISABEL and ISABELLE, would have been the number one name.

On the boys’ side, the name that would be number one if the Social Security Administration counted all spelling variations together was AIDEN (and AIDAN and AYDEN, et al), which taken together account for more boys than received longtime number one name JACOB.

The only new entry to the girls’ Top Ten was CHLOE, replacing Hannah.  The boys’ Top Ten remained the same.

The names making the fastest leaps up the popularity ladder showed a strong celebrity influence, especially for girls.  The Top Ten Fastest Movers for girls were:

(more…)

Now that Isabella is #2 on the list of most popular girls’ names, Isaac and Isaiah are in the Top 50 for boys, and names like Isla are heating up, we’re wondering if the letter ‘I’ just might be in line to become the next vowel du jour, moving up on ‘A’ and ‘E’.

This didn’t seem a very likely prospect a few years ago, when, as recently as  1995, there wasn’t a single name starting with ‘I’ in the Top 100.  On the plus side, this means that there is a whole letter-full of neglected, waiting to be discovered, rediscovered and ready-to-be imported names.  And it’s a nice initial for a child to have, straight and strong and tied up with identity and ego.

The following girls names are the most fashion forward, either already being appreciated or else on the cusp:

IDA

ILANA/ILEANA

IMOGEN/IMOGENE

INDIA

INDIANA

INDIGO

INEZ

INGRID

IRELAND

IRENE

IRINA

IRIS

ISABEL/ISABELLE

ISABELLA

ISADORA

ISLA

IVORY

IVY

And some still not in  the mainstream:

IANTHE

IDRA

IGNACIA

ILIA

ILONA

IMAN

IMELDA

INGA/INGE

IOLANTHE

IONE

IPHIGENIA

ISABEAU

ISEULT

ISHBEL

ISIS

ISMAY

ISOLDE

IVANA/IVANKA (more…)

The New York City Health Department released its list of most popular names of 2008 today–at last–with some pretty interesting results.  (It reminded me of the old Jennifer & Jason days–before the Social Security Administration was compiling a national list, when Pam and I used to have to contact –and sometimes plead with–the Health Departments of all fifty  states for their figures and laboriously construct our own master list–and I recall that New York State and City were always the last to straggle in.)

For a long time–and especially considering the City’s hip reputation–New York’s list was surprisingly conservative, with Michael, Ashley and Emily lounging in the top spots year after year.  That changed somewhat in 2007, when Isabella and Sophia tied for Number One.  This year, the more modern Jayden joined Sophia at the head of the list, bringing New York finally and  fully into the 21st century. 

 Here are the Top Ten names for both genders:

GIRLS

SOPHIA

ISABELLA

EMILY

OLIVIA

SARAH

MADISON

ASHLEY

MIA

SAMANTHA

EMMA

BOYS

JAYDEN

DANIEL

MICHAEL

MATTHEW

DAVID

JOSHUA

JUSTIN

ANTHONY

CHRISTOPHER

ETHAN/RYAN

But what is most intriguing about NYC is that it’s one of the few localities to break down its findings into separate ethnic lists for Hispanics, Blacks, Whites, and Asian & Pacific Islanders, revealing their extremely wide disparities.  For example, the only group to have the overall No. 1 girls’ name, Sophia, at the top is the Asian; the other three each had different girls’ names–Ashley, Hispanic; Madison, Black; and Olivia, White.  A few somewhat unusal choices included Melanie and Genesis on the Hispanic list;  Nevaeh, Destiny and Imani on the Black; Esther (#2!), Chaya and Miriam on the White; and Tiffany, Fiona, Angela, and Vivian on the Asian.

The Top 5 for each group are:

HISPANIC

ASHLEY

ISABELLA

EMILY

BRIANNA

MIA

BLACK

MADISON

KAYLA

MAKAYLA

NEVAEH

JADA

WHITE

OLIVIA

ESTHER

SARAH

SOPHIA

RACHEL

ASIAN

SOPHIA

CHLOE

EMILY

TIFFANY

FIONA

When it comes to the boys, a more conservative picture emerges.  Four of the top names were repeats of last years.  Jayden was #1 for Hispanic and Black boys, Daniel for Caucasian and Ryan the top choice for Asian parents, who have long had a penchant for Irish names.  There weren’t very many unexpected selections here, except possibly for Angel (Hispanic), Elijah, Jeremiah and Isaiah (Black), and Eric, Ivan and Vincent (Asian).

The top choices for each boy group were:

HISPANIC

JAYDEN

JUSTIN

ANGEL

ANTHONY

CHRISTOPHER

BLACK

JAYDEN

JOSHUA

ELIJAH

JEREMIAH

CHRISTIAN

WHITE

DANIEL

JOSEPH

MICHAEL

DAVID

MATTHEW

ASIAN

RYAN

ERIC

JASON/MATTHEW

DANIEL

ETHAN