Top Baby Names 2009

Also from celebrity babies:

VIVIENNE debuted at 532 and KNOX debuted at 706.

BRISTOL charted at 666, TRIPP at 671 (up from 930 in 2008).

HARLOW came in at 902, and did not appear in 2008.

Sarah Palin’s other kids also seem to have influenced the popularity of their names.

Willow moved up to No. 315 in 2009, jumping up 114 places in two years. Piper also jumped up nearly 100 spots in the last two years and was No. 147 in 2009. It’s harder to tell because they were both fairly trendy names to begin with. I’ve been watching for Tryg. I saw it in a few birth announcements last year. I bet it moved up too outside the top 1000.

Geez, I’m always upset when people claim Isabella is ‘Spanish’. It’s completely English and it has been in usage in Britain since the Middle Ages, long before the Biblical form Elizabeth became common. The Spanish form of the name is Isabel.

While I despise the Twilight fad, it’s nice to see this ancient historical name being revived (along with Sophia). I wonder if Edward will follow suit?

There were several names that debuted on the list…

Amos
Kayson
Archer
Knox

Vivienne
Brynlee
Brinley
Cambria
Eloise
Vera
Ember
Rosalie
Bristol

I’ve been checking to see if there are anymore!

After last week’s discussion about the name Mary (I’m in the camp that thinks Mary is a fresh, sweet-sounding name for a new baby), I noticed Mary fell out of the top 100 for the first time since the records began.

Oooh! I love Mary, too.

Isabella shows up among my English ancestors ca. 1500s. An Isabella Bryan was one of my many times great-grandmothers. But I wonder if she might have been called Isabel or Ibot or something similar in the vernacular. Isabella was the Latinate form used in church records. It’s definitely a name that was in use in England and elsewhere other than Spain and Italy in the medieval era.

I was so excited to see this list come out FINALLY. I just blogged about it too, I’m sure this will be a hot topic for a while.

I’m not too disappointed (or surprised) that Isabella is now number one. I think it’s a beautiful name, even if it follows the Twilight trend. I agree with Rita….I’m not a Twilight fan, but it’s nice to see a lot of older names coming into the spotlight again.

I’m glad Madison went down – such a pet peeve of mine. Unfortunately, Riley jumped up another spot for the girls….very depressing. On the other hand – Vivienne made the list and my all time favorite girls name dropped pretty dramatically. (Felicity).

I’m quite a fan of the name Isobel, so seeing the popularity of Isabella rise each year makes me sad. Oh well, I’d rather have a lot of pleasantly named children running around than ones with unfortunate appellations.

I think the fact that Jacob and Isabella are so popular and that there are two characters in Twilight with those names is merely coincidence. Jacob and Isabella were very popular before those books became a popular series.

I am surprised to see that Seraphina hasn’t even topped the top 1000. I know two babies born this year with that name and its one of the most popular posts on my blog.

I love the name Isabella and I’m sad it’s gotten so popular. I probably won’t use it now!
I’m very glad and surprised Esme didn’t make the top 1000! I love that name and I don’t want it to get popular.
When I have a little girl that’s what her name will be!( If dh lows). My ggma and my g-aunt have the mn May so it would honor them in a way!

When you combine the “Aiden”s with the “Aidan”s and “Ayden”s, that name actually tops the boys’ list by a long shot, rather than Jacob.

Jotadito: very true.

Growing up, I was not the only Martina in my family, but the only one in my school.
One of my closest friends was named Jessica (the Emily of my childhood) and was almost always referred to as Jessica last initial. I hazard to wonder which life is worse, being called by your last initial, or worse, unique spelling trait, because you chose one of the most popular names, or using a slightly less heard of name and that other one as a middle name.