Category: Baby Name News
This week’s news includes the US state data, names from the royal wedding, and some long-expected starbaby arrivals.
Top names of 2017: local favorites
The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of excitement over the new US name data for 2017. Highlights include some surprises in the Top 10 (with props to the readers who guessed the Top 10 boys’ and girls’ names almost right), and the ever-fascinating alternative popularity list of combined spellings. We’ve seen some exciting new entries to the Top 1000, and creative names rising further down the charts.
A week later, the most popular names in each state in 2017 were revealed. There’s a lot of data to chew over, but here are some state-level stories of the past week.
By Katinka
Nicknames as full names: where do you stand? It’s a question that divides the crowd here on Nameberry, but — like it or not — this is one trend that is really picking up steam in the US at the moment, having long been popular with our British and European neighbors.
The proof? Just take look at America’s new #1 boys’ name: Liam, traditionally an Irish diminutive of William, which was given to over 500 more babies in 2017 than the previous year. Meanwhile, more than 800 fewer baby boys were named William.
Here are 17 of the hottest nickname names of 2017:
A couple weeks back, we asked Nameberry readers to submit their guesses for the 10 most popular baby names for boys and girls in 2017. You responded enthusiastically, with so many users posting their ideas.
When the Social Security Administration released the actual list of the year’s most popular names, it became clear that no one had gotten all 20 names right. There were too many surprises!
Many of you guessed that Olivia would become the new Number 1 girls name — but instead, Emma held onto her title. And while most people thought the boys’ winner from last year, Noah, would hold onto the top slot, it was actually claimed by Liam for the first time.
And almost no one predicted the meteoric rise of Logan — up 25 percent from the previous year — to Number 5.
So we look at all the entrants to see who guessed the most of the Top 10 for boys and girls correctly, giving extra weight to the top few slots. Two of the entrants correctly picked the Top 4 boys’ names and the Top 3 girls’ names.
Of these two, the runner up was user Sarah1800. In addition to the top few, she correctly picked that Evelyn would be the Number 9 girls’ name. She also guessed one slot high or low on Sophia, Mia and Oliver. Excellent work, Sarah1800! You were just barely beaten out by…
Our winner, Miranda T. Gamboa, username CherryBomb50, who guessed four of the girls’ top 10 and five of the boys’ top 10 correctly. Here are Miranda‘s full lists, with correct answers italicized:
Girls
1. Emma
2. Olivia
3. Ava
4. Amelia
5. Sophia
6. Isabella
7. Mia
8. Charlotte
9. Abigail
10. Emily
Boys
1. Liam
2. Noah
3. William
4. James
5. Jacob
6. Michael
7. Mason
8. Ethan
9. Benjamin
10. Elijah
In addition, Miranda was one away on Mia, Charlotte and Abigail. Overall, 17 of the names Miranda guessed made the real Top 20. Congratulations, Miranda, on your victory! Your prize, a $100 Amazon gift certificate, should be in your mailbox.
Thanks to all who entered this contest! And if you didn’t win, we hope you try again next year.
We live in a world that is more connected than ever. World events influence politics, politics influences art, art influences culture, and it all influences the names we give our children.
In the twenty-first century, celebrities and other pop culture icons have played a large role in the naming landscape. For instance, in the last several years we’ve seen the meteoric rise of such names as Hendrix, Lennon and Presley, as parents look back to their musical favorites for naming inspiration. Pop culture influences can even be seen in the newly revealed 2017 Top 10. Logan had been a popular boys’ name in recent years, but it was in clear decline. That all changed with the 2017 release of the X-Men film titled Logan, catapulting the name to Number 5, the highest it has ever charted in the United States. So when baby names and the entertainment industry intersect, anything can happen.
Below are twelve names outside the US Top 1000 that have direct ties to popular culture:
Let’s look at the comebacks in the US charts this year. These aren’t names that have returned to the Top 100, or even the Top 1000. I’m talking about names that disappeared completely from the official name data – because they were used for less than 5 boys or girls each year – and reappeared in 2017.
Some of them have been away for a long time. Esper, which was given to 6 girls in 2017, was last recorded for girls in 1912 and for boys in 1926. Addiemae (or Addie–Mae – the data doesn’t record punctuation) hasn’t been seen since 1915, while Rayo and Union last appeared in 1923.
Many of the returners are variant spellings of popular names. They’re not common enough to make it into the charts every year, but odds are that occasionally enough parents will name their kid Ferne, Izabele or Keagyn to put it in the rankings.
