Is Lila really going to continue getting more popular?
So everyone keeps talking about how Lila is going to be super popular and the next Olivia or Ava. Do you still think this is the case? It seems like the name has slowed down in popularity in the last few years. It will be interesting to see the 2011 numbers next month. So what do you predict? Continue to gain and enter the top 100 or is it hitting a plateau and not going to get more popular?
Year Rank
2010 155
2009 167
2008 180
2007 258
2006 329
2005 449
2004 487
2003 569
2002 617
2001 640
2000 751
1999 723
1998 929
By jenmn3
Sat, 04/28/2012 - 10:30pm
Sat, 04/28/2012 - 10:30pm
Replies
Have you looked at other spellings of the name? Lila/Lyla/Laila... is likely an example of a name grouping whose actual size is only really apparent when you consider all of the alternate spellings. Maybe Lila isn't growing but the group is. (For example, I know someone who gave birth this month to a Laila, pronounced like Lila.)
I'd be interested to see not only the grouped spelling numbers but also the number of Lila (eye sound) compared to the number of Layla( ay sound), Leela (ee sound), and more importantly Lily (ih sound). I think the short sounds are in more than the long sounds are right now. i.e. Lily is more popular than Lila
Other short sound names: Adele, Alyssa, Isabelle, Jessalyn, Sylvia, Addilyn, Tess, Evelyn, Vivian
but then again there is Josephine, Hazel, Ivy, Judith, Ruth, Ruby and Sophie. Maybe I am wrong :(
I'd say there is a good chance it will crack the top 100. Probably not the top 10 though, mostly because of all the spelling varients which dilute the numbers a bit. Plus the alternatives of Layla, Leela etc which are similar sounds but a slightly different name.
Part of the reason Emma, Olivia, Ava etc have gone so high up the charts is that there are less variant spelling (well at least common ones) and less similar sounding names.
Ava has Eva, but they seem to appeal to slightly different groups. The Eva/Evie/Evelyn names don't seem to be exactly the same as the ones using Ava
Olivia really only has Livvy or Livia and neither of those seem as popular.
Emma has Emily or Emme but both are different names. Emily and Emma have always had about the name popularity in my area. I've come accross a few Emme's recently but again a different group of parents using that to Emma.
Chimu-Olivia also has Alivia/Alyvia/etc. as some alternate spellings so this may make it actually fall a little in the charts.
Oh yeah I'd forgotten about those. I kind of dislike that spelling. With my accent Olivia is pronounced more like: uh-liv-ee-uh. Now that makes for an unattractive respelling!
Lilian and Lily are currently in the top 100, so yes I think Lilah will break through soon. Also when looking at name statistics we should look at how many babies were named and not just the rank of the name. Baby names are getting more and more diverse, which means each name rank has fewer namesakes.
Thanks for the feedback. I think you are right that I need to look at all the variations, and unfortunately, there are so many!
The name nerds website does a great job grouping the spelling and then relisting the top names. It is fascinating. In 2010 Lyla/Lila/Lilah/Lylah/Lilla/Liela/Lillah/Liyla/Liylah/Lylla/Lyllah ranked #62 with 5629 babies. In 2009 it ranked #64 with 5180 babies. Unfortunately it's a bit hard to compare upward climbs exactly b/c the 2010 data includes beyond the top 1000 where as previous years do not, but still it's great. This is especially true if your wanting to look at sheer number of babies born rather than simply rank. Here's teh link to the girls 2011 list http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/pop/2010/2010xx01.html
I like to keep my own spreadsheet of combined spellings, and I had Lila/Lilah/Lyla/Leila/Lylah as #44, up from #45 in 2010. (An argument could be made that some Leilas are pronounced LAY-la rather than LIE-la -- perhaps that's the difference between name nerd's number and mine.)
Layla/Laila/Leyla/Laylah/Lailah was #23, up from #25 in 2010.
Lillianna/Lilliana/Lilianna was #56, up from #60 in 2010.
Lillian was #39, up from #40 in 2010.
Lilly/Lily/Lillie was #13, up from #14 in 2010.
Lilia was #611, up from #619.
I'm actually surprised that Lila and variations seem to have slowed their ascent a bit -- I did expect that name to continue climbing fast and far.
Note that Lily is already #1 in Germany and also top-ten in a few other nations. I was able to guess my niece's name in advance this way.