According to the Social Security Administration, Emma and Noah were the most popular baby names in the United States in 2015.
Here’s the top 10:
| Girl Names | Boy Names |
|---|---|
| 1. Emma, 20355 baby girls 2. Olivia, 19553 3. Sophia, 17327 4. Ava, 16286 5. Isabella, 15504 6. Mia, 14820 7. Abigail, 12311 8. Emily, 11727 9. Charlotte, 11332 10. Harper, 10241 | 1. Noah, 19511 baby boys 2. Liam, 18281 3. Mason, 16535 4. Jacob, 15816 5. William, 15809 6. Ethan, 14991 7. James, 14705 8. Alexander, 14460 9. Michael, 14321 10. Benjamin, 13608 |
Emma and Noah were also the #1 names in 2014.
Harper replaced Madison in the girls’ top 10; Benjamin replaced Daniel in the boys’ top 10.
Here’s the rest of the top 50:
| Girl Names | Boy Names |
|---|---|
| 11. Madison, 10038 12. Amelia, 9795 13. Elizabeth, 9656 14. Sofia, 9650 15. Evelyn, 9313 16. Avery, 9298 17. Chloe, 7884 18. Ella, 7852 19. Grace, 7589 20. Victoria, 7575 21. Aubrey, 7357 22. Scarlett, 7100 23. Zoey, 6900 24. Addison, 6683 25. Lily, 6617 26. Lillian, 6571 27. Natalie, 6466 28. Hannah, 6372 29. Aria, 6371 30. Layla, 6289 31. Brooklyn, 6268 32. Alexa, 6029 33. Zoe, 5995 34. Penelope, 5921 35. Riley, 5707 36. Leah, 5585 37. Audrey, 5581 38. Savannah, 5413 39. Allison, 5329 40. Samantha, 5304 41. Nora, 5301 42. Skylar, 5258 43. Camila, 5257 44. Anna, 5094 45. Paisley, 5056 46. Ariana, 4933 47. Ellie, 4838 48. Aaliyah, 4836 49. Claire, 4805 50. Violet, 4779 | 11. Elijah, 13511 12. Daniel, 13408 13. Aiden, 13378 14. Logan, 12862 15. Matthew, 12648 16. Lucas, 12246 17. Jackson, 12182 18. David, 11691 19. Oliver, 11592 20. Jayden, 11475 21. Joseph, 11375 22. Gabriel, 10782 23. Samuel, 10733 24. Carter, 10727 25. Anthony, 10564 26. John, 10303 27. Dylan, 10232 28. Luke, 10219 29. Henry, 10112 30. Andrew, 10027 31. Isaac, 9878 32. Christopher, 9742 33. Joshua, 9720 34. Wyatt, 9597 35. Sebastian, 9569 36. Owen, 9549 37. Caleb, 8727 38. Nathan, 8530 39. Ryan, 8474 40. Jack, 8456 41. Hunter, 8284 42. Levi, 8236 43. Christian, 8127 44. Jaxon, 8015 45. Julian, 8003 46. Landon, 7896 47. Grayson, 7852 48. Jonathan, 7577 49. Isaiah, 7528 50. Charles, 7125 |
In the girls’ top 50, Alexa, Paisley, Ellie and Violet replaced Arianna, Gabriella, Sadie and Sarah.
In the boys’ top 50, Grayson and Charles replaced Eli and Aaron.
Impressive rises:
- Alexa rose 31 places, from 63rd to 32nd
- Violet rose 17 places, from 67th to 50th
- Grayson rose 16 places, from 63rd to 47th
- Oliver rose 13 places, from 32nd to 19th
- Riley (girl name) rose 12 places, from 47th to 35th
Impressive drops:
- Arianna dropped 16 places, from 40th to 56th
- Gabriella dropped 11 places, from 43rd to 54th
- Anna dropped 10 places, from 34th to 44th
There’s much more to come! Until then, I’ll quote liberally from the SSA’s news release:
Each year, the list reveals the effect of pop-culture on naming trends. This year’s winners for biggest jump in popularity in the Top 1,000 are Alaia and Riaan.
Alaia jumped 2,012 spots on the girls’ side to number 664, from number 2,676 in 2014. Perhaps this can be attributed to high fashion designer Azzedine Alaia, or maybe it is because of Alaia Baldwin, the model/daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin.
Riaan increased 1,360 spots for the boys, from number 2,286 in 2014 to number 926. Of Indian origin, it is also the name of the young son of a well-known Bollywood actor, Riteish Deshmukh.
The second fastest riser for girls was Meilani. If you have ever watched MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” and maybe even if you haven’t, you’ve heard of Jenni “JWoww” Farley. She gave birth to daughter Meilani in 2014. On a different American shore, out in Hawaii, is another well-known Meilani–Bethany Meilani Hamilton, the professional surfer whose story of surviving a shark attack was documented in the movie “Soul Surfer.”
For boys, it was Huxley (a brave new comeback for the late science fiction writer?).
Some other notable names in the top 10 biggest increase category, and some possible reasons for their newfound popularity:
– Omari and Jabari for boys. Omari Hardwick is an actor, known for his roles in “Sparkle,” “The A-Team,” and BET Network’s “Being Mary Jane.” He currently stars in “Power,” a popular cable TV series. Jabari Parker is a professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks. He was the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft out of Duke.
– Adaline and Zelda for girls. “The Age of Adaline” is a 2015 fantasy film starring Blake Lively, Harrison Ford, Michiel Huisman, and Ellen Burstyn. As for Zelda, maybe the legend continues to grow?
I’ll also note that the name Isis dropped from 705th place (398 baby girls) in 2014 to 1770th place (117 baby girls) in 2015.
Source: Emma and Noah Once Again Social Security’s Most Popular Baby Names for 2015 – SSA
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United States (public domain)
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