A Tale of 2 Popularity Lists
By Linda Rosenkrantz
We kind of take it for granted that our Berries are ahead of the curve when it comes to name trends and choices. And now, looking for some hard evidence via the latest Social Security list versus Nameberry’s own popularity list, we can see just what a great disparity there is. As in Number One Noah and Emma (on the official US list) vs Atticus and Charlotte (Nameberry’s top names).
So what are some of the other sharpest, most extreme, differences? Scanning the 20 most popular names on Nameberry, some of which were barely on the general public radar a few years ago, here’s what we see:
One name, Imogen, which ranks at Number 8 on our site, is nowhere to be found in the US Top 1000.
9 of the Nameberry Top 20 girl names have not broken into the SSA Top 100– though all are trending up and just might catch up with us in a year or two:
Isla—our fourth most popular name– inched up 17 places nationally, from 167 to 150
Cora (Number 7 on NB) progressed 23 spots from 126 to 103, thanks in part to Downton Abbey
Hazel (Number 13) climbed from 157 to 107, influenced by its starbaby, literary and film ties, and would seem to have a good chance of crossing the border next year
Aurora (14) made a sizable jump from Number 146 to 116
Adelaide (15) was the furthest down in this group, now at 321 nationally, up a mere 5 places from last year
Evangeline (17) advanced 22 spots to 276
Arabella (18), an up and coming ‘bella’ name, went from 211 to 174
Adeline (20)—this second Addie name advanced 14 spots, from 233 to 219
And how about the boys?
Even more disparity is evidenced here. 13 of the Nameberry Top 20 were not in the SSA Top 100, while again, most are trending north there:
Atticus—Proof of the pudding is that our Number 1 name is only at 270 nationally, even with a dramatic leap of 134 rungs up the ladder
Declan (Number 3 on Nameberry) was relatively static at 122
Ezra (4), a biblical up-and-comer, was up 23 places to 119
Silas (8) actually moved down nationally to 137. We predict that that is about to reverse, especially with its recent choice by Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake.
Jude—Our Number 9 name was more or less stable at 162 across the country
Milo (11)—the lowest nationally among the boys, moved just two places to 313
Jasper—A Nameberry/Twilight fave at Number 12, Jasper advanced 29 places to 218
Kai (13) climbed from 199 to 177
Finn (15) is surprisingly still at only 234 in national popularity
Miles (17)—Milo’s cousin advanced a mere 6 places to Number 108
Theodore (18)—A classic on the rise, Theodore jumped 43 spots to Number 126
Beckett (20)—Number 20 name only reached the Top 250 in the US, at Number 244
Digging a bit deeper, if you happen to be one of those staunch anti-popularity baby namers, you might want to consider the following choices that are beloved on Nameberry, but were below the Top 1000 last year: