Most popular baby names in Minnesota, 2011 ...

Jeremy Olson writes about children and families, and is an overscheduled father of two. His blog tackles the best and worst of parenting, families, health and love. He wants to hear from you - what's going on in your house?

Most popular baby names in Minnesota, 2011 ...

Posted by: Jeremy Olson Updated: May 31, 2012 - 3:39 PM

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The annual release of the top U.S. baby names every spring always generates a lot of media buzz and excitement, but I tend to be more interested in the Minnesota list that comes out a week later with less fanfare.

It's interesting to see how the state differs from the rest of the country. In 2011, Minnesota parents seemed to have less interest in some traditional Biblical names for their sons than U.S. parents.

Michael ranked 6 in the U.S. but 34th in Minnesota.
Daniel ranked 10 in the U.S. but 47th in Minnesota.
David ranked 18 in the U.S. but 54th in Minnesota.

Joshua, Matthew and Jayden were also popular in the U.S. but lower in the list in Minnesota. So which names did Minnesotans like more? Liam, Benjamin and Logan to name a few. And Minnesotans were all jacked up about Jack and Jackson -- at least compared to the rest of the nation.

And the girls? There wasn't as much difference from the national list, but Claire, Amelia, Harper, Anna and Lucy all were more popular in Minnesota than in the rest of the nation.

Comparing 2010 and 2011 in Minnesota, Harper saw a big jump in popularity for girl names along with Eleanor and Sofia. Minnesotans got all excited about K names in 2011 as well, as Keira, Kendall and Kennedy were new to the top 100 list. Annabelle also made the top 100 at 77, ya'll! Girl names that got dumped from the top 100 included Reese (sorry Witherspoon), Alyssa (sorry Milano) and Teagan (???).

On the boy side, parents' desire to name their sons after a bat -- Easton -- has ebbed a bit. The name wasn't on the list in 2009, but made it to 58 in 2010 before declining to 72 last year. Jaxon, Blake and Colton were big gainers on the top 100 list for boy names.

Below is the top 25 list for Minnesota compared to the U.S. in the 2011. Go to the Social Security Administration web site for more of the fun.

MN Rank	MN Male name	U.S. Rank	U.S. Male name	MN Rank	MN Female name	U.S. Female name	U.S. Female name
MN Rank	MN Male name	U.S. Rank	U.S. Male name	MN Rank	MN Female name	U.S. Female name	U.S. Female name
1	Mason	1	Jacob	1	Olivia	1	Sophia
2	William	2	Mason	2	Sophia	2	Isabella
3	Jacob	3	William	3	Emma	3	Emma
4	Liam	4	Jayden	4	Ava	4	Olivia
5	Benjamin	5	Noah	5	Isabella	5	Ava
6	Ethan	6	Michael	6	Abigail	6	Emily
7	Logan	7	Ethan	7	Grace	7	Abigail
8	Jack	8	Alexander	8	Ella	8	Madison
9	Noah	9	Aiden	9	Elizabeth	9	Mia
10	Jackson	10	Daniel	10	Chloe	10	Chloe
11	Owen	11	Anthony	11	Emily	11	Elizabeth
12	Samuel	12	Matthew	12	Claire	12	Ella
13	Henry	13	Elijah	13	Evelyn	13	Addison
14	Alexander	14	Joshua	14	Natalie	14	Natalie
15	Carter	15	Liam	15	Addison	15	Lily
16	Gavin	16	Andrew	16	Lily	16	Grace
17	Isaac	17	James	17	Avery	17	Samantha
18	James	18	David	18	Lillian	18	Avery
19	Andrew	19	Benjamin	19	Amelia	19	Sofia
20	Evan	20	Logan	20	Aubrey	20	Aubrey
21	Nolan	21	Christopher	21	Hannah	21	Brooklyn
22	Aiden	22	Joseph	22	Audrey	22	Lillian
23	Oliver	23	Jackson	23	Madison	23	Victoria
24	Wyatt	24	Gabriel	24	Anna	24	Evelyn
25	Elijah	25	Ryan	25	Alexis	25	Hannah