Thursday, May 5, 2011

My thoughts on the 2010 baby name list


The Social Security List of the top baby names of 2010 came out today.  The top 25 are listed below with the top 100 in the link above. 

1 Jacob & Isabella

2 Ethan & Sophia

3 Michael & Emma

4 Jayden & Olivia

5 William & Ava

6 Alexander & Emily

7 Noah & Abigail

8 Daniel & Madison

9 Aiden & Chloe

10 Anthony & Mia

11 Joshua & Addison

12 Mason & Elizabeth

13 Christopher & Ella

14 Andrew & Natalie

15 David & Samantha

16 Matthew & Alexis

17 Logan & Lily

18 Elijah & Grace

19 James & Hailey

20 Joseph & Alyssa

21 Gabriel & Lillian

22 Benjamin & Hannah

23 Ryan & Avery

24 Samuel & Leah

25 Jackson & Nevaeh

A few of my thoughts: 
Lucy, Charlotte, Quinn, and Evelyn will be moving up in 2011 and 2012.  They're all in the top 75 now and from the talking amongst friends of mine, the names I see in Spencer's daycare, and other sites I visit (like thebump.com), they're all becoming really popular. 

Did you notice that the top 5 girls names all have an "a" at the end?  So do #10 and #13.  They're all very pretty, very feminine names and I can see why they all trend in the same direction. 

A lot of the "older" names are really showing up more and more- Amelia, Evelyn, Audrey, Claire, etc.  I adore all these names- they're so pretty and classic.

I'm surprised Grace isn't higher, but perhaps it was a few years ago?  I know a TON of Graces.  I feel the same way about Jack.  Shocked that it's not higher.  But maybe because a lot of Jacks are Jacksons or Johns with the nn Jack. 

The names B and I like for boys aren't in the top 25 and this shocks me.  They're nice, normal names but apparently that's not "in" anymore.  Only one of the three is in the top 100!  Spencer is #227.  We're so not cool!  I suppose this will be a good thing once he's in kindergarten.

Mary didn't make the top 100????  Again, shocking!

My top 5 names in the top 100 are:
For Boys: Ryan, John, Benjamin, Carson (maybe??  I'm struggling to come up with 5 on the boy's side because I am already so set on my boy's names) and Robert (love Robbie!)
For Girls: Julia, Natalie, Elizabeth, Claire, Molly, and Evelyn (yes, that's 6.  I also like Amelia, Audrey, Caroline and Paige.)  Emily is my very favorite name of all time, but it's been in the top 10 for the past 25 or so years, so I've buried it deep in my heart as a name I'll never get to use. 

My least favorite are:
For Boys: Jayden, Aiden/Ayden/Brayden/Caiden, etc, etc; Jaxon (just spell things appropriately peeps!!);
For Girls: Nevaeh (Heaven spelled backwards- blech), Kaylee, Khloe (again with the spelling), Destiny, Trinity, Faith, Serenity (all kind of go along with the Heaven theme- not my thing)

So, are "your" names in the top 10?  The top 25?  Does looking at this list change your idea of the perfect name for your child?  Are you happy or sad that your child's name is higher or lower on the list?  What are your top 5 in boys and girls names?  Fill me in, ladies!  I adore baby names!! 

 

11 comments:

  1. Totally agree on names! I strongly dislike the Jayden, Aiden/Ayden/Brayden/Caiden names too. And the girl equivalents (at least out here): kaylee, kiley (however you spell that one).

    I like a lot of the popular girl names (Olivia, Sophia, Lilly). I just hope by the time I have kids they aren't popular!

    I love the name Spencer :)

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  2. I think you could totally name a little girl Emily- I mean, what a wonderful name, right? I kid!
    I didn't look at the whole list, but my grandmother's name was Estelle, and I have recently decided that I would love to name a little girl that and call her Stella for short.
    For boys, I think we'll trend towards more traditional names- and probably have a junior. Ed's first name is William, so I can imagine us having a Will one day.
    I also love Jake because that was my grandfather's name (Short for James Isaac)

    Wow- a lot of info, huh?

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  3. We are so alike. Our favorite names aren't necessarily the same, but they are the classic/preppy names. :) My #1 girl's and boy's name are NOT on the top 1000 list but are becoming more popular. They are not weird or anything either. One of my favorite girls names was always Hadley, thanks to Ernest Hemingway, and I know so many people that have named their daughters Hadley. Totally bums me out, because it's becoming trendy. I also love Quinn, but that's also shooting up big time. And, I also love Elizabeth... family name. I think you could totally do Emily. I am of the notion that if it's a classic name, it can always be done no matter how popular or unpopular. But, if the name is a little off the beaten path, I'd prefer not to know anyone whose kids have the same name, as is the case with my two favorites. I know of people with kids with the names, just not anyone personally. P.S. I am apparently superstitious since I don't broadcast the names... I feel like if I do, I am asking one of my friends to name their son or daughter "my" names! haha

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  4. All four of the babies in my extended family have names on this list, so it seems we're going with the trend!
    i actually wrote a story about this for a parents magazine a few years back and some of the reasons WHY these names are here are that we are returning to more classical and strong names for boys, and for girls, we're trending toward feminine, european names.

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  5. I was relieved to see none of my kids names in the top 10. I like names that do not have a diminutive, like Billy, Danny etc. My three are Adam, Claire and Owen. Short, smiple and easy to learn to spell in pre school!

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  6. Love seeing your comments on this, especially the insight about those girls names ending in "a", I hadn't noticed that. And I'm with you on the Jayden, Braiden, etc., it's o unfair to the child, among other things.

    Sending you a spring smile!
    tp

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  7. I abhor Nevaeh, too! An awful name.

    I also love Emily - it is in my top choices should I ever have another daughter.

    While I imagine Catherine or Katherine is in the top 100 (I haven't checked yet) - Kathryn is how I spell my daughter's name, so it is probably not on there!

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  8. Oh, and BTW - Kathryn (yes, I am a stickler for using traditional spellings) is my middle name, my great grandmother's name and my great great grandmother's name. So, it was not done to be unique (shutter at the thought)!

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  9. Yep, I'm with you entirely on this. I hadn't noticed the "A" thing either, but you're absolutely right.

    I'm bummed that many of my favorite classic names - Grace, Claire, Emily - are so popular right now. We'll default to a family name should there be a Miss Pretty in our future, just as we did with Master P.

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  10. I had a little girl on August 27, 2010 and named her Molly Katherine. I loved the name and was so excited that she was the only Molly in a sea of Lily/Lilly/Lillians, a Reese and a few other trendy names. I went with classic and deviated on our family's spelling of her middle name. My aunt and grandmother are/were Kathryn. I thought that the two y's were too much and went with Katherine as the spelling. Molly is SUCH a Molly! I love the name Patrick for a boy...classic and traditional, but it's the only name I like for a boy! I want to have another baby in threeish years and love the name Kelly for a girl.

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