Biggest changes in boy name popularity, 2010

For the last few years, the SSA has re-ordered the top 500 (or so) baby names according to rank change.

Below I’ve done the same sort of analysis, but I changed two things. First, I focused on the number of babies instead of on rankings. Second, I looked at the entire list, not just the top 500.

And that’s why these lists and the SSA’s lists look so different. :)

The boy names that increased and decreased the most in terms of usage are below. The girl names were in the last post.

Biggest Increases, 2009 to 2010

  1. Mason, +4074 babies (rank change: 34th to 12th)
  2. Bentley, +3221 (515th to 101st)
  3. Liam, +2317 (49th to 30th)
  4. Eli, +1601 (90th to 65th)
  5. Easton, +1330 (253rd to 145th)
  6. Grayson, +1077 (173rd to 122nd)
  7. Elijah, +984 (22nd to 18th)
  8. Levi, +935 (85th to 70th)
  9. Jacob, +839 (1st to 1st)
  10. Bryson, +771 (151st to 120th)
  11. Lucas, +727 (39th to 35th)
  12. Axel, +645 (264th to 187th)
  13. Colton, +516 (93rd to 73rd)
  14. Jeremiah, +485 (65th to 52nd)
  15. Asher, +474 (165th to 139th)
  16. Brayden, +474 (48th to 40th)
  17. Greyson, +451 (347th to 249th)
  18. Henry, +448 (71st to 67th)
  19. Miles, +434 (162nd to 137th)
  20. Jaxon, +423 (124th to 99th)

Biggest Decreases, 2009 to 2010

  1. Joshua, -2311 babies (rank change: 6th to 11th)
  2. Christopher, -2129 (10th to 13th)
  3. Matthew, -1941 (13th to 16th)
  4. Ethan, -1917 (2nd to 2nd)
  5. Daniel, -1777 (7th to 8th)
  6. Michael, -1689 (3rd to 3rd)
  7. Christian, -1620 (23rd to 29th)
  8. Alexander, -1541 (4th to 6th)
  9. Aidan, -1523 (72nd to 94th)
  10. Kevin, -1476 (44th to 58th)
  11. Brandon, -1331 (38th to 43rd)
  12. David, -1328 (14th to 15th)
  13. Nicholas, -1252 (32nd to 38th)
  14. Ryan, -1185 (19th to 23rd)
  15. Joseph, -1162 (15th to 20th)
  16. Gavin, -1159 (33rd to 37th)
  17. Jose, -1139 (43th to 51st)
  18. Tyler, -1130 (28th to 34th)
  19. Angel, -1102 (37th to 42nd)
  20. Juan, -1048 (67th to 75th)

As with the girl names, three of the above (Jacob, Ethan and Michael) were big winners/losers according to the numbers, but their rankings stayed the same.

5 thoughts on “Biggest changes in boy name popularity, 2010

  1. Funny thing is that, according to the #s, Jacobs’s been falling since the late ’90s. Only from 2009 to 2010 did it start climbing again. Here are the #s for Jacob, very roughly…

    1997 – 34k
    1998 – 35k
    1999 – 35k
    2000 – 34k
    2001 – 32k
    2002 – 30k
    2003 – 29k
    2004 – 27k
    2005 – 25k
    2006 – 24k
    2007 – 24k
    2008 – 22k
    2009 – 21k
    2010 – 21k

  2. I just hope this isn’t the start of a new cycle where it keeps increasing again.
    The problem is, all numbers are falling in the top10, so its unlikely anything will topple it soon.

  3. I hear you. It’d be nice to have a new #1 name already. :)

    But, I agree, I think it’s likely Jacob will be #1 for a few years yet. There are currently 4k babies between Jacob and the #2 name — a solid buffer, even though (as you mention) the top rankings are experiencing a sort of “deflation” in value.

    Then again, I wouldn’t count Jayden out just yet. From 18th to 11th to 8th to 4th…it really hasn’t slowed down. I think it could easily hit #2 in 2011, and — who knows — maybe even #1.

  4. I think Jayden could climb to #2, but its numbers have stalled. It could increase if parents started to focus on that spelling (which they are, but not fully). Its nothing like Kayden though, where there are like 5 spellings in the top200 or something.

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