The most popular baby names of 2011 are officially here, with Sophia unseating Isabella to become the the new top girls’ name in the U.S..

Jacob remains the most popular name for boys for the 13^th year in a row.  An Old Testament name that means “supplanter” and a cousin of James, Jacob has been in the Top Ten for nearly two decades.

The Social Security Administration announced the 2011 Most Popular Baby Names on The Today Show this morning.

The complete Top Ten are:

Read More

The official list of U.S. Most Popular Names 2011 will be revealed this Friday, and so in advance of that announcement, we’re asking YOU to predict:

What do you think will be the 2011 Most Popular Names?

Will Jacob and Isabella hold their top spots?  If not, which names do you think will make it to Number 1?

What about the Top 10?  There’s a prize (see below) for the first person to guess correctly!

In 2010, these were the Top 10 names for girls and boys:

Read More

This year for the first time we’ve calculated a list of top unisex names 2011: names listed on Nameberry for both genders that are winning the highest number of page views.

Unisex name popularity is always tricky: Aren‘t most parents searching for top names Harper and Quinn interested in those names for girls?  We believe they are, and if those two names were counted in the girls’ tally, they’d rank among the Top 20.

But in fact, some parents are interested in Harper and Quinn as boys’ names, and many of the other names on this list — Sawyer, Rory, and Riley, say — may be considered equally for both genders, while choices such as Parker or River may be used more often for boys.

Here are the top unisex names 2011 on Nameberry.

Nameberry’s Top 25 Unisex Names, 2011

moving up quickly

1. Harper
2. Quinn
3. Rowan
4. Avery
5. Sawyer

Read More

Nameberry’s top boy names 2011 includes big news: Asher has leapfrogged over Henry and Finn, last year’s number one and two, to take the top spot.

The Nameberry popularity lists track which names attracted the most views on our site this year.  Consider them a predictor of which names parents will choose in the future, rather than which names they picked in the past.

As with the girls’ names, the Nameberry Top 10 rankings are very different from the national Social Security list, with not one crossover name for boys. Bentley, the fastest-rising boys’ name on the national popularity list, attracted a significant number of new views on Nameberry too.

Compared with last year’s Nameberry popularity list, the only new entrant in the boys’ Top 10 is, interestingly, classic James.  Names rising fastest through the boys’ top 100 are marked in bright green below: note especially Silas, Emmett, Everett, Flynn, and Archer.

Here then, the Nameberry top boy names 2011.  Don’t forget to scroll all the way to the bottom and take part in the contest to guess boy’s name #101 and win a free book!

Nameberry’s Top 100 Boys’ Names, 2011
up significantly over 2010

1. Asher
2. Finn
3. Henry
4. Milo
5. Jasper
6. Atticus
7. Oliver
8. James
9. Jude
10. Felix

Read More

Nameberry’s top girl names 2011 is our definitive look at which girls’ names attracted the most views on our site this year.

Think of it as a predictor for which names parents will choose for their baby girls in the future, rather than what they named their daughters last year.

Once again, Charlotte is Nameberry’s #1 girls’ name, but Seraphina, jump-started by the daughter of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, has moved into second place above big sister’s name Violet.

New entries in the girls’ Top 10 are Scarlett and Lila, replacing Elizabeth and Eliza.

The Nameberry Top 10 rankings are very different from the national Social Security list, with not a single crossover on the girls’ list. In fact, for example, the nation’s seventh most popular name, Madison, is not even in Nameberry’s Top 100.

Tomorrow we’ll bring you the boys’ popularity list, which includes bigger news than on the girls’ list.  Plus this year, we’ve compiled a separate list of popular unisex names, which we’ll run on Thursday.  One note here: Unisex names Harper and Quinn were both very popular for girls, and so by some rights should be included high up on the girls’ top 100.

Be sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the list where we’re announcing a new contest: Can you guess which name was #101 on Nameberry in 2011 for both girls and boys?

Here, then, the Nameberry top girl names 2011.

Nameberry’s Top 100 Girls’ Names, 2011
up significantly over 2010

1. Charlotte
2. Seraphina
3. Amelia
4. Violet
5. Isla
6. Imogen
7. Adelaide
8. Alice
9. Scarlett
10. Lila

Read More