The most popular baby names in New York City for 2008 were announced not long ago. The winners were Sophia and Jayden. But, at the moment, the names themselves don’t interest me as much as the source of the rankings–the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is a source you can trust. Why? Because it’s a part of the NYC city government. The Social Security Administration, which publishes the national U.S. rankings every May, is also trustworthy. The SSA is part of the U.S. federal government.
So what about baby name popularity lists that come from non-government sources like BabyCenter.com and BabyNames.com? Well, they’re simply not reliable. These lists only represent names preferred/selected by users of those particular sites. To make things even more complicated, the names are self-reported. Who knows if parents are telling the truth about their preferences/selections? (Who knows if they’re even parents at all?)
So always be sure the list you’re looking at is legit. The ultimate source of the information should be a government body, not a baby name website.
One Comment
That is exactly what I thoght when I see their lists. How accurate can they be? Good article with good points. Glad I’m not alone in thinking that about these sites’ most popular lists.