Your taste in baby names is shaped by many factors. If I had to point to just one, though -- one force that drives your opinions, that's impossible to escape -- it would be your generation.

That's obvious on the face of it. We all know that name styles change dramatically over time. When it comes to our own personal taste, though, it's hard to feel the generational influence. Here's how I usually describe it: the names of your own generation sound too ordinary, your parents' too boring, your grandparents' too old. But by the time you make it back to your great-grandparents' names, things start to perk up. You've never known a young Vivian or Julius, so those names sound fresh to you.

That places a style "sweet spot" at naming generations roughly 60-90 years older than you. But it also points to a second sweet spot at names 20-40 years younger than you. Those are the names that you and your friends name your children. Meanwhile you're turned off by names in middle, particularly your own age and 10-20 years older. So if you were born in the 1970s, you probably didn't consider '60s names like Sheila or Kent for your kids.

Now here's the kicker. That same generation of names that marks your style nadir is your parents' sweet spot. And those charming antiques you love? They're your parents' stodgy grandma names. Let's overlay some hypothetical curves:

Call the areas in green "argument zones."

Parents, this explains why your mother-in-law keeps suggesting names like Karen and Steve. Grandparents, this explains how your daughter could possibly consider a name like Julius (or Genesis) for a little baby. And to our youngest readers, prepare for your parents to totally miss the appeal of Conrad and Joyce. They don't have bad taste, honest. They're just products of their generation.

The votes are in for the annual Baby Name Pool. Hundreds of name enthusiasts trained their eagle eyes on the naming horizon to predict the top rising and falling names of 2009. As always, your votes are almost as interesting as the official name data itself -- a leading indicator of name trends to come.

What did your votes say this year? Well, let's get the big theme out of the way right now: vampires. I've written plenty about the Twilight series as a powerful up-and-coming force in American names. Clearly, many of you agree. Alice, Bella, Isabella, Edward and Esme all ranked among the top 10 most-predicted rising names.

Alice took first place overall, with an added boost from the Alice in Wonderland movie (and perhaps from this past blog post.) The non-Twilight half of the top 10 was filled by Violet, Henry, Lila, Jackson and Oliver. That's an intriguingly traditional list for our non-traditional naming era.

On the declining side, most of you went with the "bigger they are, harder they fall" theory. The top choices were popular powerhouses Emma, Aiden, Emily and Jacob. Other recurring themes were top names of the '70s-'90s (Ashley, Jennifer, Brittany) and recent out-of-nowhere naming phenoms (Miley, Nevaeh).

The most intriguing group, though, may be the names that make both lists. Five names ranked among the top 20 predictions for both rising and falling. To me, that's the ultimate sign of a name of this moment, one that will help define our naming era long into the future. Whether you think these names are still rising or have already crested, you sensed that in 2009, they were everywhere:

Isabella
Jacob
Ava
Addison
Aiden

Perhaps you come to BabyNameWizard.com to find name ideas. Or perhaps you come here to connect with an incredible community of thoughtful, entertaining name enthusiasts. Or better yet, both!

We've just launched a new feature to bring all that name activity together in a personal "name hub": your user profile page.

If you're a registered user, click on the orange "settings" button at the top right of any page.  You'll see a profile that collects your recent blog comments, lets you say a little bit about yourself, and lets you save and share your favorite names. Click the "edit" tab to add info and select what you'd like to share. (Don't worry, it's totally up to you what to include. If you prefer not to share any information at all with the community at all, simply leave your profile blank and de-select the "show my blog comments" checkbox.)

You can also add to your favorite names list as you browse the site. Each Namipedia page now includes a "Favorite This" link under the name header to save the name to your profile page. You'll also see that registered users' names show up as orange links in blog comments. Click to visit the user's profile -- a great way to catch up on a blog conversation.

And if you're NOT a registered user, go ahead and sign up now!

P.S. Remember, the Baby Name Pool contest is in full swing. Be sure to submit your ballot by April 15.

What do these names have in common?

Adibella
Elizabella
Evabelle
Hannabelle
Marabella
Miabella
Sarabella

OK, the -bell part is a gimme. But there's more. None of them are traditional given names, and all of them have been submitted to Namipedia by readers. They have plenty of of company in the Bell system, too, including 16 names on the girls' top 1000 list. Put it all together and you have the strongest Belle generation this country has ever seen, eclipsing the previous 18th-century peak. (For those of you keeping track at home, I'm only counting names with a full "bell" sound, not names like Campbell and Mabel that swallow the vowel.)

I believe there's still more to come. Bel, Belle and Bella are remarkably flexible combining forms. Most two-syllable girl's name ending in a vowel sound will work, and there's an endless supply of those. Avabella? Sure. Jennabelle? Heck, why not?

Here's how some of the parents who submitted their Belle names to Namipedia described it:

"My husband and I like Elizabeth, but I did not like the possibility my child would be called Liz. Therefore, my husband came up with Elizabella. This allowed us to keep the feel of the name Elizabeth, but have the advantage of calling her Bella for short."

"I have always loved the name 'Bella,' but always felt that something should be added to the name, for example 'Isabella.' I looked for three letter first names with strong meanings. And found 'Adi.' So far, I have been receiving compliments about the name. It's unique, and when you read the name backwards, it's particular meaning says 'Beautiful Diamond or Jewel.'"

That "beautiful" connotation of Belle and Bella is an extra boon to parents who like the idea of names having meanings. It's an interesting example of the difference between "meanings" and "origins". The original -bel names that established the style, like Amabel and Isabel, weren't constructed from the Latin root for beauty. But they coincided happily with it, and centuries of parents have jumped on that coincidence.

That brings us to one other thing that list of Belle names has in common. I let them all stay in Namipedia, based on likely appeal to other parents. The Belles have a powerful style weapon: unlike most contemporary mix-and-match styles, they follow a traditional, old-fashioned form. That leaves even the new inventions with a sweetly antique style that appeals across the fashion spectrum. Admit it, traditionalists -- you kind of like Miabella, don't you? As for Avabella...coming soon to a Namipedia near you.