Playground Analysis: The REAL Top 50 Names

Kelli Brady, creator of NameFreak!, combined spelling variations to come up with the real top 50 names on the new US popularity list. Her results show some names vastly more popular than it seems and a new Number 1 _and Number 2 for boys._

Some names might actually be more popular than the SSA list shows because it ranks each spelling of a name separately, rather than counting all spelling variations — Sophia and Sofia, for example — together. To see how popular a name actually is, I have gathered the various spellings of each name in the 2012 Top 1000 and come up with a new Top 50 for each gender!

Why do I call this the Playground Analysis? Well, when you are on the playground with your kids and you hear a name, you don’t know how it is spelled, but you do know how often you hear it.

For girls, the top 5 do not drastically change, but Zoey jumps from #20 to #7. Adalyn, Elena, Kaitlyn and Madelyn make huge gains after adding all of their various spellings.

Note: The main name listed is the spelling given to the most babies in 2012 (SSA Rank is in parentheses). The others are in alphabetical order. Opinions vary on how different spellings are pronounced. I went with my best judgment.

girls

1. Sophia (1) – Sofia2. Isabella (3) – Isabela, Izabella3. Emma (2)4. Olivia (4) – Alivia, Alyvia5. Ava (5) – Avah6. Emily (6) – Emely, Emilee, Emilie, Emmalee7. Zoey (20) – Zoe, Zoie8. Chloe (11) – Khloe9. Madison (9) – Maddison, Madisyn, Madyson10. Aubrey (15) – Aubree, Aubri, Aubrie11. Abigail (7) – Abbigail12. Mia (8) – Miah13. Madelyn (67) – Madalyn, Madalynn, Madeleine, Madeline, Madelynn, Madilyn, Madilynn14. Lily (16) – Lillie, Lilly15. Layla (31) – Laila, Lailah, Laylah, Leila, Leyla16. Hailey (32) – Hailee, Haley, Haylee, Hayleigh, Hayley, Haylie17. Addison (14) – Addisyn, Addyson18. Riley (47) – Rylee, Ryleigh, Rylie19. Elizabeth (10) – Elisabeth20. Natalie (17) – Natalee, Nataly, Nathalie, Nathaly21. Aaliyah (36) – Aleah, Aleigha, Alia, Aliya, Aliyah22. Avery (13) – Averi, Averie23. Kaylee (34) – Caylee, Kailee, Kailey, Kayleigh, Kaylie24. Arianna (49) – Ariana, Aryana, Aryanna25. Ella (12)26. Brooklyn (29) – Brooklynn27. Amelia (23) – Emelia, Emilia28. Allison (38) – Alison, Alisson, Allyson, Alyson29. Hannah (22) – Hana, Hanna30. Kaitlyn (118) – Caitlin, Caitlyn, Kaitlin, Kaitlynn, Katelyn, Katelynn31. Mackenzie (71) – Makenzie, Mckenzie32. Kylie (59) – Kiley, Kylee, Kyleigh33. Peyton (53) – Paityn, Payton34. Lillian (25) – Lilian35. Evelyn (27) – Evalyn, Evelynn36. Leah (33) – Lea, Leia, Lia37. Charlotte (19)38. Sarah (43) – Sara39. Grace (21)40. Harper (24)41. Katherine (64) – Catherine, Kathryn42. Gabriella (37) – Gabriela43. Anna (35) – Ana44. Samantha (26)45. Alyssa (44) – Alisa, Alissa, Elisa, Elissa46. Brianna (51) – Breanna, Briana, Bryanna47. Victoria (28)48. Makayla (69) – Mckayla, Michaela, Mikaela, Mikayla49. Adalyn (198) – Adalynn, Addilyn, Adeline, Adelyn, Adelynn50. Elena (139) – Alaina, Alayna, Elaina

For boys, Aiden and its various spellings (there are NINE) take the top spot away from Jacob, and Jackson jumps from #22 to #2! Jacob doesn’t show up until #4 after all the spellings of Jayden. And Kayden and Dominic look like the names with the biggest gain.

boys

1. Aiden (10) – Aaden, Adan, Aden, Aidan, Aidyn, Aydan, Ayden, Aydin2. Jackson (22) – Jaxen, Jaxson, Jaxon3. Jayden (7) – Jaden, Jadon, Jaeden, Jaiden, Jaidyn, Jaydon4. Jacob (1) – Jakob, Jaycob5. Mason (2) – Maison, Masen, Mayson6. Ethan (3)7. Noah (4)8. William (5)9. Liam (6)10. Michael (8) – Micheal11. Kayden (99) – Caden, Caiden, Cayden, Kaden, Kaeden, Kaiden12. Alexander (9) – Alexzander13. Matthew (12) – Mathew)14. Elijah (13) – Alijah15. Daniel (11)16. James (14)17. Anthony (15)18. Caleb (32) – Kaleb19. Benjamin (16)20. Christopher (23) – Cristopher, Kristopher21. Joshua (17)22. Andrew (18)23. David (19)24. Joseph (20)25. Logan (21)26. Lucas (27) – Lukas27. Christian (33) – Cristian, Kristian28. Landon (34) – Landen, Landyn29. Gabriel (24)30. Brayden (39) – Braden, Bradyn, Braeden, Braiden, Braydon31. Samuel (25)32. Jonathan (35) – Johnathan, Johnathon, Jonathon33. John (28) – Jon34. Ryan (26)35. Dylan (31) – Dillon36. Nicholas (49) – Nicolas, Nickolas, Nikolas37. Isaac (30) – Issac38. Nathan (29)39. Carter (36) – Karter40. Cameron (54) – Camren, Camron, Camryn, Kameron, Kamron, Kamryn41. Connor (59) – Conner, Conor, Konner, Konnor42. Isaiah (42) – Isiah, Izaiah, Izayah43. Luke (37)44. Owen (38)45. Gavin (40) – Gavyn46. Dominic (70) – Dominick, Dominik, Dominique47. Jordan (48) – Jorden, Jordyn48. Wyatt (41)49. Colton (65) – Colten, Kolten, Kolton50. Henry (43)

What do you think? Does this sound about right? Are there any surprises?

Kelli Brady is a stay at home mom of two who needed an outlet for her name obsession. She found it at NameFreak!, a blog dedicated to a wide variety of name-related whims and fancies. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter.