Jacob and Isabella were the most popular baby names in 2010, according to a list released Thursday by the Social Security Administration. The SSA baby name web site is fun, because you can look up historical trends and see how names have fallen in or out of favor. Here are the top 10, which surprised me a bit because I only know a handful of kids named either Aiden or Ava.
Boys: 1) Jacob Girls: 1) Isabella 2) Ethan 2) Sophia 3) Michael 3) Emma 4) Jayden 4) Olivia 5) William 5) Ava 6) Alexander 6) Emily 7) Noah 7) Abigail 8) Daniel 8) Madison 9) Aiden 9) Chloe 10) Anthony 10) Mia The fastest-rising names, it seems, are those that have been popularized by reality TV shows, according to today's Associated Press story, which also notes that Elvis has dropped completely off the top 1000 list. The name Bentley shot up from 515 in 2009 to 101 in 2010. Maci rose from 655 to 232.
Jeremy, it seems, continues to fall out of favor with American parents. It was the 33rd most popular name the year I was born. Now, sigh, it has slipped to 142. At least my highly competitive 10-year-old at home will be glad to know his name jumped up to 48th for boys.
And rounding out the bottom 100:
91 Jaden Eva 92 Jesus Jessica 93 Alex Angelina 94 Aidan Valeria 95 Eric Gabrielle 96 Hayden Naomi 97 Bryan Mariah 98 Max Natalia 99 Jaxon Paige 100 Brian Rachel
