Toddlers & Tiaras Baby Names

State name Alaska stems from an Aleutian word for the land mass itself. The number of baby girls named Alaska has doubled in the past five years, and is sure to continue increasing as more place names are annexed as baby names. Wilder but as habitable as Dakota or Cheyenne, Alaska is a girls' name choice for the future.

This most proper form of the name shot up the charts in the nineties, only to sink just as precipitously, supplanted by upstarts Makayla and McKayla ad infinitum.

Now the best-selling version of this infinitely varied name, Makayla incorporates the also-popular Kayla. Makayla and Mikayla have now left the original Michaela far behind.

Originally popularized by football stay Peyton Manning, Peyton and Payton are now used much more often for baby girls. While the Peyton spelling is given to about five times as many girls as boys, the Payton version leans even more heavily toward the female side, with about 1000 girls named Payton to 100 boys in the most recent year counted.

Braxton entered the popularity ranks in 1985 and has been climbing steadily ever since. It has gained from the all-powerful X-factor, and perhaps also from the reality TV show, Braxton Family Values, featuring singer Toni and her sisters Traci, Towanda, Trina and Tamar. Though it might sound new, there was a prominent Confederate Civil War general named Braxton Bragg.

A popular member of popular family: Kadin, Kaeden, Kaiden, and Kayden -- along with Caden, Caiden, and Cayden, as well as Cade and Kade.

Not quite as unusual as it might seem, it first entered the popularity list in 1995, as a possible alternative to the very popular Kayla. In the Bible, an alternate spelling is Jaala.

The second most popular spelling of this name is also the most straightforward.

With the ascent of all names -ella, and even -bella, we predict that Annabella will rise as an alternative for such favorites as Isabella and Angelina. It's possible to spell the name Anabella. Annabel -- along with Anabel, Annabelle, Anabelle, and Annabell -- are potential alternatives.

If Destiny is your daughter's destiny, she probably won't be the only one in her school: until 2009, Destiny was in the Top 50, with three of its alternate spellings in hot pursuit. It has since dipped a bit in popularity but is still widely used. Destiny Hope was the birth name of Miley Cyrus and Destiny Jones is the daughter or rapper Nas.

Lexi and Lexie, pixie-ish offshoots of the prolific Alex family, have come into their own, remaining in the Top 1000 for more than 20 years now.

A Scottish surname name, more popular as the Presidential McKinley, meaning "son of the fair hero".

Paris, a one-time mythical and Shakespearean boys' name, peaked in 2004 at Number 157 at least in part due to the highly publicized Paris Hilton. Michael Jackson used it for his daughter.

Kids love Bob the Builder, but do they want to be Bob the Builder? Bob and Bobby have been out of style since the 1960s, but as vintage nickname-names -- Fred, Archie -- come back into vogue, Bob may tag along. Charlie Sheen used it for one of his twin sons.

In the early eighties, Lindsay, in tandem with Courtney, approached the Top 10.

Trending down, along with others of both the Car and the issa groups.

A name with some sterling qualities, most associated with the British currency and silver markets. Sterling is more commonly a male name or surname, but is occasionally used for girls as well.

Colorful, yes, but also probably among the hippiest of hippie names. Holly Madison recently chose it for her little girl.

Diamond sparkled all through the nineties--reaching as high as Number 150 in 1999. Although its shine has diminished quite a bit, it remains in use.

While Alivia may not have achieved the megapopularity of its mother name, it's still a widely used choice. Alivia combines the trendiness of A names with the trendiness of Olivia to create a choice that's slightly off the beaten track -- slightly being the operative word here. Is the distinction the initial A earns you worth a lifetime of explaining, "No, it's Alivia, with an A, not Olivia"? Your call, though ours would be no.