The Baby Name Wizard

The funny thing about Ashley is how surprisingly popular it is in my state (Arizona) still. In 2008 it was still #12! But, when I started looking at the actual number of babies named Ashley, I realized that Laura was right, it is in a big decline.

In AZ in 2008 275 girls were named Ashley, making it #12. In 2007 it was 366 girls, rank #5.

So I randomly picked 2000 and 1985 for comparison. In both years Ashley was the #2 name in AZ--but in 1985 that meant 647 baby Ashleys, whereas in 2000 it only meant 399.

And, I have to say, I'm glad the stats only come out once a year! Otherwise I'd never get anything done!

Maybe a bunch of moms decided to go with Miley instead of Hannah ;)

But seriously, could the over-exposure issue some expected to hurt Miley have actually hurt Hannah instead? Don't most kids call her HM and not MC?

Oh my word - Heaven and Nevaeh made it onto the twins list as did Autumn and Summer. In my mind these aren't as 'bad' as the near identical names (like Jayden and Jaylen), but a little bit more surprising.

@CB--wait till the twins Heaven and Nevaeh are in about 2nd grade and start trying to go by their "backwards" name at recess, and realize that then they're each other!

I distinctly remember calling friends Refinnej and Rine and Assyla in elementary school...I'm sure it'll happen! :)

Absolutely! We did that too ( What can I say? Enirehtac is a fun word!)

Ashley has been #1 in my state for 2 years in a row. I'm in Wasington, DC where most parents are either very affluent, or very not-so-affluent. It's interesting how varied the names are here.

Looking at twins names it's interesting that both Jayda, Jayden and Jada, Jaden and Jada, Jayden are all popular! As with many twin names on this list, I think names so close together in sound would just be confusing, but that's just me...

Woo and I think I picked Ashley as falling!

Hey - I'm pretty sure just a few minutes ago I was looking at State Popularity for 2008, but now the ssa site will only go through 2007.
Anyone know what's up with that?

I can't imagine Hannah would be a popular Hispanic name. With the H being silent, it would just sound like Ana.

Tirzah - I live in an area with a large Hispanic population and haven't met a Hannah amongst them (purely anecdotal, I know). I've met a couple of caucasion preschool Hannah's (and one Chinese adopted by caucasions) and thought that's where the name was being used.

As Amelia rose 8 places, Emelia entered the list after a many decade absence at number 960.

(Obviously I'm enjoying my ssa stats today)

Looking over the list today I noticed number 74 was Valeria. Is this a variation of Valerie?

I remember stopping the backward name game after my friend Tara got very upset.

I misread the post at first also, but Laura actually said that the Hispanic name declines have nothing to do with Hannah, and so it still remains a mystery.

Some RIPs -

Pearl
Carrie
Susana
Brandi
Antonia
Vince
Blaise
Deshaun

The Hannah thing is interesting as I thought there was a rise of -iah names happening. I guess maybe it will hit next yr. I guess the -lie's are overtaking the -lyn's though.

I didn't read the post correctly the first time either. Going back to the fastest risers, would Marely be pronounced the same as Marley? I tend to think the e in the middle would change it... make it more Mare-lee or Mar-uh-lee. I'm sure people mean for it to be pronounced the same but I wouldn't. Anyone good with pronunciations know?

I'm wondering if the parents that would be attracted to a name associated with a super-popular teen show are the same ones who would gravitate toward a name like Miley, while the parents who would like a name like Hannah are turned off by the associations it has with Hannah Montana. Just a thought. It seems like the parents of a Miley and the parents of a Hannah would be entirely different people.

DEH, that's a really good observation. I love the name Hannah b/c it's classic and Biblical, and I absolutely wouldn't use it b/c I don't want people saying, "Oh, like Hannah Montana?" And I don't care for Miley either...

Anyway... This is really fun. I wish I could remember what my name pool predictions were. I think I guessed Hillary as dropping, so I know I'm wrong on that one...

I have a question about the flattening of the curve: Is there a place on the SSA website (or Namevoyager) that tells you what the actual number of babies was for each name? Meaning, Emma is #1, but how many Emmas were born this year? I've seen people referring to that info, but couldn't find it on the SSA site.

I'm wondering because my own anecdotal experience doesn't really match the top 10 list (I know multiple little Isabelle/Isabella/Ellas, several Olivias, Sophias, and Abigails. But all the Madisons and Avas I know are over 6, and the only Emma is about to turn 10. Maybe everyone I know is like me, as soon as a name hits top 10, it's off limits?

And Emily... Was my grandmother's name, and has been one of my favorite for years, but I would never use it b/c it's been at the top of the list (not that it mattered, since I only seem to be able to produce boys...why am I so interested in girl names!) Looking over the lists today, however, it occurred to me that I don't know a single Emily under the age of 20 (Even though I have access to lots of name lists - schools and church - in 2 states.)

I wonder why that is...

nebraskaree -- regarding emily, i'm 100% objective--use it. :]

also, regarding the actual number of babies for each name, go here:
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
then, in about the middle of the page, you choose the year, the number of names you want to see (top 20, top 50, top 100, etc), then you check "number of births." that should do it!

i also agree with DEH--people who already like hannah might run from hannah montana associations. people who like miley might embrace the pop culture reference. i think it's a pretty decent theory.

DEH - great analysis!

NebraskaRee - on the right side of the NameVoyager is a use per million babies number line. Consider there are about 3.5 million babies annually. You can get a pretty decent estimate with that.

As far as seeing the top ten names in your 'casual' observations, remember that the top ten only makes up 8.8%/7.7% (boy/girl) of the new babies in a year-- very easily within the error limits imposed on your observations' small sample size. And new Emily's make up less than 1% of the newborn population...

Especially if you are looking in states with small populations (like Nebraska)

Baron and Deegan make their debuts.

Bridger and Sammy return.

Didn't someone bring up Callum not too long ago?
He debuted at 976.

I know you're probably churning out these posts, but above you have an "it's" instead of an "its."
:)

@CB:

Yes, Callum is our choice for baby-on-the-way. Is it completely irrational to be relieved that he barely hits the top 1000?

Our girl's choice is nowhere in sight, and I'm soooo thankful. That said, both are top 25 in Rep. of Ireland and Scotland, so I guess I can't have it all ;p

does anyone know how the ssa ranks baby names if there are the same amount of births for different names? for example, Donavan, Keyon, Kyan, Simeon, and Trystan all had 204 births according to the ssa website. but their ranks are 964, 965, 966, 967, and 968. how do they decide the order? it appears to be alphabetical...however, i feel like this information could be misleading.

it is alphabetical, they state that in their "background information"

ah, thanks knp.

I dont know if someone already mentioned this but I think Diego may have declined because of Go, Diego, Go. Perhaps the name became too closely identified with the kids cartoon? I know at least one family that scrapped the name because of the show. Maybe Diego is becoming like Elmo.. to heavily associated with one character

Two very interesting baby announcements of friends of mine-

Ki@na Danae, big brother is Tr@eton

And Emerson Grace, big brother is Finn

Just thought that some of you NE's would enjoy those names.

Someone earlier had asked about why the SSA does not provide more than 1000 names-here is a link to the answer on their web page.
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/babynames/limits.html

Does anyone else view the top 1000 from the pairs perspective? That is, looking at the names--male and female--that share the same ranking and seeing how related or unrelated they are to each other. Some really work together as a pair and some just don't (which isn't at all surprising, I just like to do it).

So far, my fave pair is #232--Zion and Eden. I laughed at that one!

CB-
I brought up Callum recently on this board. I think the -m ending will be a replacement to the ever-popular n ending!

Quick question: How do you pronounce Siobhan?

She(rhymes with the) -vaughn

Must see video: Most popular baby names announced
May 8: Michael Astrue, commissioner of Social Security, reveals some of the most popular baby names in the U.S. from 2008 on the Today Show.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30624090/?GT1=43001

Astrue says "you can't see the big news on the boys' side" and explains that "the biggest jump we've ever had was for Barack" from the 1200s to #2409. He also explains why SSA publishes their top name lists every year.

Wow, Laura, you are fast! I just checked out Voyager thinking you wouldn't have 2008 data in it yet, but you do -- less than 24 hours after SSA released it! Good work (as always)!

Aw, I couldn't play it. Did he happen to mention how many total births #2409 means?

New famous baby - born to Chyler Leigh of Grey's Anatomy: Anniston Kae (g). I can see this one getting much more popular.

I found Chyler Leigh's Wikipedia entry interesting:

Leigh and West have three children: Noah Wilde (born December 2003), Taelyn Leigh (born September 2006),[7] and Anniston Kae (born May 7, 2009).[8]

Leigh has said that she and her husband have a pact in which the person who guesses the baby's gender correctly gets to choose the name. When pregnant with Noah, she guessed she was having a boy so she chose the first name and Nathan gave him his middle name. For Taelyn, Nathan correctly guessed it was a girl, so he named her. Their third child, also a girl, was guessed correctly by West; he chose the name Anniston Kae.

oh - I cut out the bit that says Chyler Leigh's husband is Nathan West - doesn't make much sense it you're reading it without that... ooops.

I was thinking about the name Miley this morning, and it occurred to me that it probably originated not with random rhyming as I've read, but as babytalk to a smiley little girl named Destiny: 'how's Daddy's lil 'miley girl?" And 'miley Cyrus certainly is a smiling girl.

One online bio says of the name: Destiny Hope Cyrus, or more commonly known as Miley Cyrus, was born on November 23, 1992, in Nashville, Tenn. Miley is the daughter of country singer/actor Billy Ray Cyrus, and her name comes from the shortened nickname for "Smiley."

Miley burst into the top 1000 at #279 in 2007 and advanced 152 places to #127 in 2008. I'm guessing that parents who've conferred this name on their daughters have no idea of the origin of 'miley, and some apparently think that the name is a form of the longstanding male name Miles. No, just a cute sounding babytalk name for a very pretty and popular teen star named Destiny Hope, now known as 'miley Ray Cyrus -- Ray after her adoring daddy who probably called her his "'miley girl" and eventually just shortened that to 'miley/Miley.

Here's hoping that 'miley never makes it into the top 10 names for American girls!

CB: no, Michael Astrue didn't say how many boys received the name Barack, just that the name was #2409 -- which sounds like Barack has a ways to go to make it into the top 1000. Yet with Barack jumping about 10,000 places from 2007 to 2008, it should have a good chance of placing well this year.

Penny in Australia: I think the first part of Anniston (omit 'ton') may keep the name from becoming highly popular. Other than that, the name sounds like a variant for Ann (similar to Emily/Emma -- Emerson) and could be appealing to some parents looking for a new name.

From today's chicagotribune.com's discussion of the "Top baby names for 2008":

"Other notables: Elvis (down 40 spots to No. 713) and Barack (up a record 10,126 places to No. 2,409). But he won where it counted most."

EmaxHealth highlighted the rise of the name Barack in their report on baby names:Top Baby Names 2009: Barack Skyrockets

http://www.emaxhealth.com/1/20/31039/top-baby-names-2009-barack-skyrocke...

I'm still convinced that it means no more than, at most, 100 babies. Does anyone know?

CB, I've been looking for that number -- no luck yet (and have to go out soon). Looking at the top 1000 chart, you can see that the lower a name ranks, the more names there are with the exact same number of incidences. Thus #991-996 all had 194 boys with each name. Number 1000 Yurem had 192 by that name. It seems a long way down the chart from 1000 to Barack's ranking of 2409, but with each name having the same number of incidences, Barack's number could be closer to 192 than we might guess.

Oh, I so wish that there were records of middle names. I wonder if that's where Barack has been lurking.

Whoever mentioned Caylee -- wow. Not on the list to 519 in one year...seems so obvious in retrospect.

Does it bother anyone else that Andrew & Alexander is a popular twin pairing? "Man" & "defender of man" from the same language? I'm guessing parents don't know the meanings, but come on...look them up!

I definitely agree with the analysis of Hannah's dramatic drop. Baby name lore for the ages! I wonder if there have ever been any other TV characters that influenced the character's name and the actor/actress's name in totally different ways...anyone know?

And is it just me, or is this year's list particularly full of great material for trend analysis?

I just finished combining spellings for the girls' list in my spreadsheet. (Is this a great day or what?!) Interesting notes:

-Top 5 girl names stay the same: Sophia, Isabella (#3 in 2007), Emily (#2 in 2007), Madison, Emma
-New to the top 100: Mylie, Camila, Valeria, Natalia, Molly, and Charlotte
-Big climbers: Marely (which I believe is pronounced Mah-RAY-lee), Jaslene, Audrina, Yaretzi, Adalyn, Yaritza, Marley, Hillary, and Braelyn.
-New flower names to watch: Dahlia (#541, up 38) and Violet (#191, up 32)
-The growth of the -aylie names (Bailey, Haley, Kayleigh, etc.) ground to a halt, the -ayla names (Kayla, Shayla, Layla, Makayla, etc.) slowed a bit, while the -yla names (Nyla, Myla, Lilah, Skyla, Delilah -- the next wave of trendy names, IMHO) made a big jump

PS Let's keep a record of "new" 2008 names. I started the thread here (I go by Beatrix on Nameberry) - http://nameberry.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1241 - but we can do it on this board as well. Add whatever you find!

Girls
#829 Matilda (last on list in 1964)
#998 Kenley (first timer)
#895 Brynlee (first timer)
#1000 Elianna (first timer)
#999 Sloane (first timer)
#906 Raelynn (first timer)
#960 Emelia (last on list in 1921)
#976 Karsyn (first timer)
#942 Paityn (first timer)
#943 Payten (first timer)
#972 Avah (first timer)
#996 Carleigh (first timer)
#519 Caylee (first timer)

Boys
#976 Callum (first timer)
#980 Deegan (first timer)
#991 Baron
#978 Bridger

Jillc - thanks for the number crunching. Interesting stuff! What's up with Yaretzi and Yaritza? Are they associated with a particular ethnic group?