Girls’ Names 2012: Nameberry’s Top 100
Around this time every year, we peek behind the Nameberry curtain to see which names are the most popular with our visitors. This Top 100 for each gender, which reflects views of the name pages on our site, indicates which names have captured the most interest since the start of the year.
The girls’ list is evidence of both pop culture events along with future baby name trends. Some analysis:
– The Hunger Games is the obvious inspiration for Katniss at Number 1. We don’t ever expect to see Katniss — or Primrose or Rue — in the U.S. Top 100 for real live baby girls. But the appeal of the heroine inspires a great amount of curiosity about her unusual name.
– Celebrities and their babies attract a lot of page views, which sometimes translate into baby name trends. Names high on the Nameberry list thanks to celebrities and starbabies include Harper, Seraphine, Penelope, Violet, Isla, and Scarlett. And these are all names that will continue to rise in the national name statistics as well, we predict.
– The berries are ahead of their time. While there are some crossovers between the Nameberry and the U.S. Top 100, there are more notable differences. Most important: Classic, stylish names little used in the country at large are popular among our visitors: Imogen, Maeve, Aurelia, Elodie, Pearl.
Here, the Nameberry Girls’ Top 100 for 2012 so far:
- Katniss
- Charlotte
- Harper
- Seraphina
- Imogen
- Penelope
- Amelia
- Violet
- Isla
- Eleanor
- Adelaide
- Alice
- Quinn
- Cora
- Eliza
- Evelyn
- Aurora
- Claire
- Sophia
- Lila
- Maeve
- Scarlett
- Nora
- Hazel
- Grace
- Ivy
- Ava
- Olivia
- Elizabeth
- Stella
- Lucy
- Clara
- Ruby
- Ella
- Wren
- Matilda
- Beatrice
- Poppy
- Clementine
- Avery
- Emma
- Isabella
- Willa
- Chloe
- Aurelia
- Audrey
- Evangeline
- Iris
- Lily
- Mila
- Josephine
- Maisie
- Rose
- Arabella
- Adeline
- Aria
- Elodie
- Mae
- Genevieve
- Lydia
- Merida
- Eloise
- Caroline
- Jane
- Juliet
- Phoebe
- Gemma
- Margaret
- Harlow
- Emmeline
- Zoe
- Emily
- Delilah
- Esme
- Cordelia
- Georgia
- Olive
- Sadie
- Piper
- Madeline
- Mia
- Hannah
- Anna
- Emery
- Willow
- Hadley
- Cecilia
- Zara
- Luna
- Maya
- Pearl
- Kate
- Mabel
- Lola
- Isadora
- Ellie
- Eden
- Amelie
- Eva
- Beatrix
Look for the boys’ list tomorrow.
Guess Number 101 and win a free signed copy of our book Beyond Ava & Aiden!
One guess per person, first person to guess the correct name wins the prize (so don’t pick a name that’s already been guessed!).
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Xanthe. Says:
Mara_lyn86 Says:
I see a few of these names getting more popular in the next few years: Harper, Adelaide, Alice, Penelope, Clara, Olive, Adeline.
I would love to meet little girls with these names, but I also hope that they don’t hit the top 50.
maggiemary Says:
My particular highlights are Violet, Eliza, Nora, Ivy, Matilda, Beatrice, Clementine, Aurelia, Iris, Josephine, Rose, Elodie, Cordelia, Olive, Pearl, Mabel and Isadora.
Oh and Margaret at #68 – yay! 
Aurra Says:
I love pretty much all the names on this list! Aurelia, Mabel, Mae, Aria, Luna and Matilda are personal favorites, though I hope they don’t go into the infamous top 100.
sophiekihm Says:
Bellamy for 101
Starcatcher668 Says:
Love Isadora! 
MrsTaylor Says:
I also love the majority of the names on this list. My particular favorites are Lila, Eliza and Emmeline. I would have to guess that #101 is Rosalie
Katieanne Says:
We just named our daughter Mabel nn Mae. Looks like we are in good company with the berries!
vanessaaball Says:
I am always so pleased with this list. I am going to take a wild guess that 101 is Hattie.
Brynie Says:
101 my guess Daisy?
Danni Says:
My guess is Philippa or Pippa for 101
jc54 Says:
I love all of the girlie girl names here! My guess for 101 is Lucia. I love the name Lucia!
niteowl13 Says:
I don’t see Adele on the list. Or Pippa!
Both names should be searched a lot due to their famous name bearers.
fcooper Says:
Wow, such pretty names! Some of my favorites are here, Grace, Seraphina, Juliet, and Sophia, but also some very old fashioned names. Therefore, I’m going to go with Francine as # 101. Why not Francine?
Amydomsmom Says:
Those are lovely, I am definitely guilty of looking up a bunch of those! My guess for girls name 101 is Clover. =]
tnmom Says:
I’m guessing Theodora/Thea for #101.
cnphillips Says:
I love many of these names! I’m guessing Cambrie for #101.
LexieM Says:
I’d love to know if there was a way to distinguish searches done by berries and searches done by visitors. I feel like there are only so many times a Berry needs to look up Katniss to remember it’s from HG and the name of a plant. I wonder how that might changed the statistics. (This could tell us if we are indeed ahead of the times or just floating along in our own little bubble.)
Mischa Says:
No# 101 guess: Juniper
evergreen Says:
So many names I LOVE on this list. My guess for 101 is June
Mega_Muffin Says:
I think #101 is Daphne.
pam Says:
To answer your question, LexieM, there’s no way to differentiate searches at least for the purposes of this feature. This is an overall ranking tallying all searches by all visitors to Nameberry and the results are skewed up and down by all kinds of features beyond exalted berry name taste — SEO rankings for various names, pop culture blips etc.
So we need to take this for what it is, an internal ranking of interest in these names over the first nine months of this year, influenced by a range of factors both related and not to Nameberry taste.
littlemissmariss Says:
I love so many of these names! Eep!
My guess for 101.. thats a toughie! My guess was Theodora, but thats already been guessed. How’s about Agnes for 101?!
mermuse Says:
What Xanthe said!
Harbs Says:
101 = Felicity?
lolly1019 Says:
Susanna
Katieanne Says:
#101: Aubrey?
tiffhope87 Says:
My duaghter’s name is Norah… I pray I never see it on the US 100 list! She was named after her great-great-grandmother. Not long after she was born someone else in our community named their daughter Nora. *sigh*
#101 – Lorelei?
mill1020 Says:
Calliope for 101?
BabyNinja143 Says:
Beautiful name list. I wouldn’t mind if this was the top U.S. list. My guess is Ophelia is #101.
BritishAmerican Says:
101: Dorothy
dresdendoll Says:
Honestly, so tired of most of these names…only a couple on there stand out to me as special.
ballet90 Says:
101: Natalie
Namenutt Says:
#101 Cecily
ScottishNameLover Says:
101: Juliana
SS33 Says:
There are many names there that would really flatter a little girl. I missed London though, so I’ll pick London as #101
mrsmur725 Says:
My #101 guess: Wilhelmina
MorganaLeFaye Says:
#101 Persephone?
renmarks Says:
#101 Addison
vitamom3 Says:
Helena for #101
Lori Johnson Says:
#101 Maude
nay_han Says:
#101 guess= Hermione
kimberley13 Says:
Hmmmm, I don’t see Pippa, Adele, Louisa or Molly from last year’s top 100. I think my guess for #101 wil be…
Louisa.
shanbrownie Says:
#101. Rue?
KickinKay Says:
Elena for 101?
lovejoywisdom Says:
Where’s the boys’ list due today?
watermellie Says:
Lovely names!
#101. Katherine?
ayc1983 Says:
The list is overwhelming as I’m a newbie here. One of my favorites that i didn’t see was Delaney. I’ll go with Delaney for #101.
pam Says:
The boys’ list will be published at midnight tonight.
GrecianErn Says:
#101 – Eleanor
(I am hearing this all over for little girls under 3 yrs old!)
AvieGrace Says:
#101- Saoirse?
witchgreens Says:
So many good names on this list. I’m really glad my favorite names aren’t so popular IRL. I’m going to guess Florence for #101.
JessicaT11 Says:
101 – Caoimhe
Jewel-e Says:
#101: Magdalena
auroradawn Says:
I have to remind myself sometimes that many of these lovely names are not as popular in the real world as they seem on Nameberry! (And a few of them rank higher in the real world than they do here.) This list gives an interesting perspective.
My guess for #101 is Haven.
Flick Says:
I, too, forget that nameberry does not represent MOST people’s name choices and that whats popular here is not necessarily trending in the real world.
Aurora Says:
Fiona for #101
avesnames Says:
# 101: Leonie?
Starcatcher668 Says:
Oh wait—I’ll guess Seraphine for #101!
DiannaElaine Says:
Renesmee
I see that name pop up a lot for some reason so that’s my guess
spotlightstarlit Says:
101- Genevieve!
isabel_r Says:
101 – Annabel
happycitrus Says:
#101 – Nevaeh
alexandrasumk1 Says:
101-Bethany
spotlightstarlit Says:
I’m changing my vote as the name I chose WAS on there already.
Jessamine for 101
lovejoywisdom Says:
101 – Jillian
emmie113 Says:
#101 – Gwendolyn (I see it alot now, which is upsetting because it’s my personal fave!)
1234plus1 Says:
101-Juniper?
expensivemarket Says:
#101 – Cassia
juliet.a Says:
101- Sloane
oldsienna Says:
My guess for #101 is Flora.
miss.kmg Says:
101 Elowen
pam Says:
Okay, the bad news is that NOBODY has guessed Girls’ Name #101 yet. The good news is that you each get another guess! But only one per berry, please…
nay_han Says:
=) Guess #2 = Calla
vanessaaball Says:
#101 Vivienn
vanessaaball Says:
#101 Vivienne
JessicaT11 Says:
I’m going to go out on a Jessica Simpson limb and say #101 is Maxwell.
vanessaaball Says:
Oops, sorry for the double post. My second entry is the corrected answer.
I can’t believe there was only 1 “V” name on the list!
cnphillips Says:
guess 2: Francesca
pam Says:
Ding ding ding ding! Close enough, vanessaaball. Number 101 is Vivian. Email me at pam@nameberry.com with your address so I can send your book! Congratulations….
vanessaaball Says:
Yay! I’m so excited
spotlightstarlit Says:
Let’s see, top three:
Beatrix, Elizabeth & Rose in that order.
My other favorites from this list:
Imogen, Cora, Eliza, Hazel, Ivy, Evangeline, Maisie, Jane, Juliet, Phoebe, Emmeline, Delilah, Esme, Cordelia, Willow, Mabel & Amelie
ty13 Says:
Caroline, Mila, Eva
mayday_fridaybabe Says:
Rose, Pearl and Phoebe are my top three favorites
anna.bliss Says:
hmm 101 Juno
niteowl13 Says:
It’s tougher to pick my top 3 girls.
I’m thinking…Cora, Lila and Beatrice.
pam Says:
I hear you, niteowl13. At last today, I’m going to pick three old favorites: Margaret, Josephine, and Mae.
Amydomsmom Says:
2nd guess= Vera
pam Says:
To repeat, we have a winner. #101 was Vivian!
jeniferbraun Says:
I feel personally responsible for Imogen being so high up on this list….I must have read its entry, oh, about 8,000 times before before we chose it for our daughter. 
I’m partially responsible for Penelope too….I keep rereading her entry. I’m still in mourning, having lost that name to the Khardashians.
makeupbyjanine Says:
Oh I KNEW it was Vivienne/Vivian!!! Darn, too late
Thealove Says:
My fav is Seraphina – sounds pretty and girly.
101 – Athena?
Oh, too late.
livcathryn Says:
Oh I was going to guess Nova as 101! Haha….I was reallyyyyy off!
MissusAytch Says:
Luna is my fave. Hoping it doesn’t catch fire and get too popular! Argh!
ElsaAnne Says:
40 of them are on my ever-increasingly list! Definitely need to streamline at some point! I’m just hoping they don’t get too popular in the real world! The name that surprised me the most was Hazel, didn’t realise so many people liked it on here at all
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I love almost all the names on this list. I do, however, hope the berries stay in name fashion limbo, and aren’t ahead of their time, since I really don’t want these name gems showing up in the US top 100 anytime soon.