Biggest changes in girl name popularity, 2010

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

  1. Sophia, +3608 babies (rank change: 4th to 2nd)
  2. Khloe, +1926 (95th to 42nd)
  3. Zoey, +1183 (75th to 47th)
  4. Charlotte, +1143 (68th to 45th)
  5. Zoe, +1080 (47th to 31st)
  6. Maci, +892 (655th to 232nd)
  7. Stella, +856 (126th to 85th)
  8. Scarlett, +781 (170th to 114th)
  9. Amelia, +739 (55th to 41st)
  10. Harper, +703 (172nd to 119th)
  11. Layla, +668 (45th to 37th)
  12. Ellie, +662 (145th to 104th)
  13. Kinley, +660 (452nd to 231st)
  14. Quinn, +637 (487th to 253rd)
  15. Tenley, +609 (2985th to 458th)
  16. Sofia, +602 (36th to 26th)
  17. Annabelle, +572 (156th to 117th)
  18. Bella, +566 (58th to 48th)
  19. Camila, +555 (80th to 61st)
  20. Hadley, +544 (363rd to 216th)

Biggest Decreases, 2009 to 2010

  1. Madison, -2111 babies (rank change: 7th to 8th)
  2. Alexis, -1712 (13th to 16th)
  3. Taylor, -1700 (22nd to 36th)
  4. Ashley, -1517 (20th to 27th)
  5. Sarah, -1502 (21st to 30th)
  6. Samantha, -1282 (15th to 15th)
  7. Kaylee, -1145 (26th to 35th)
  8. Emily, -1123 (6th to 6th)
  9. Brooke, -1106 (54th to 72nd)
  10. Brianna, -1101 (24th to 29th)
  11. Alyssa, -1001 (19th to 20th)
  12. Valeria, -977 (72nd to 94th)
  13. Kaitlyn, -926 (67th to 90th)
  14. Madelyn, -898 (59th to 76th)
  15. Destiny, -885 (57th to 71st)
  16. Mia, -841 (10th to 10th)
  17. Elizabeth, -834 (11th to 12th)
  18. Marley, -830 (149th to 234th)
  19. Kayla, -795 (35th to 43rd)
  20. 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.

3 thoughts on “Biggest changes in girl name popularity, 2010”

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

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