For the last few years, the SSA has re-ordered the top 500 (or so) baby names according to rank change.
I decided to do the same sort of analysis, but change 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.
Needless to say, these lists and the SSA’s lists look pretty different. :)
The girl names that increased and decreased the most in terms of usage are below. The boy names will be in the next post.
Biggest Increases, 2009 to 2010
- Sophia, +3608 babies (rank change: 4th to 2nd)
- Khloe, +1926 (95th to 42nd)
- Zoey, +1183 (75th to 47th)
- Charlotte, +1143 (68th to 45th)
- Zoe, +1080 (47th to 31st)
- Maci, +892 (655th to 232nd)
- Stella, +856 (126th to 85th)
- Scarlett, +781 (170th to 114th)
- Amelia, +739 (55th to 41st)
- Harper, +703 (172nd to 119th)
- Layla, +668 (45th to 37th)
- Ellie, +662 (145th to 104th)
- Kinley, +660 (452nd to 231st)
- Quinn, +637 (487th to 253rd)
- Tenley, +609 (2985th to 458th)
- Sofia, +602 (36th to 26th)
- Annabelle, +572 (156th to 117th)
- Bella, +566 (58th to 48th)
- Camila, +555 (80th to 61st)
- Hadley, +544 (363rd to 216th)
Biggest Decreases, 2009 to 2010
- Madison, -2111 babies (rank change: 7th to 8th)
- Alexis, -1712 (13th to 16th)
- Taylor, -1700 (22nd to 36th)
- Ashley, -1517 (20th to 27th)
- Sarah, -1502 (21st to 30th)
- Samantha, -1282 (15th to 15th)
- Kaylee, -1145 (26th to 35th)
- Emily, -1123 (6th to 6th)
- Brooke, -1106 (54th to 72nd)
- Brianna, -1101 (24th to 29th)
- Alyssa, -1001 (19th to 20th)
- Valeria, -977 (72nd to 94th)
- Kaitlyn, -926 (67th to 90th)
- Madelyn, -898 (59th to 76th)
- Destiny, -885 (57th to 71st)
- Mia, -841 (10th to 10th)
- Elizabeth, -834 (11th to 12th)
- Marley, -830 (149th to 234th)
- Kayla, -795 (35th to 43rd)
- Lauren, -755 (46th to 58th)
Did you notice that a few of the above (Samantha, Emily, Mia) were big winners/losers according to the numbers, and yet their rankings stayed the same? Tricky.
I think we may be seeing a further up tick in the use of Harper. Syfy is debuting a series later this year based on the Harper Connelly quartet by Charlene Harris (author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels). I also expect to see some buzz around Toliver, another name from the series.
Agreed on Harper. And I think giving a name like Toliver just the slightest nudge could make it really take off. This could be that nudge.
You were right about Harper, C in DC!