The 2011 Baby Names Almanac

390 Pages·2010·2.31 MB·English

by  Emily Larson

2011
Emily Larson
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Copyright © 2010 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover and internal design © 2010 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover design by Dawn Pope/Sourcebooks
Cover images © dinca/istockphoto.com
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
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systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or
reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in
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publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional
service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a
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Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Larson, Emily.
The 2011 baby names almanac / by Emily Larson.
p. cm.
1. Names, Personal—Dictionaries. I. Title.
CS2377.L38 2010
929.4’4--dc22
2010039345
Printed and bound in Canada.
WC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Introduction v
Inside the Popularity Charts 1
What’s Hot (or Not) Today
(And What Will—and Won’t!—Be Tomorrow) 27
Girls’ Names 59
Boys’ Names 211
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This Page Intentionally Left Blank
Introduction
So, you’ve got a baby to name.
As if preparing for the arrival of the baby isn’t enough, you’re
dealing with all the pressure of figuring out what, exactly, to call
the little bundle of joy. It can be stressful to find a name that will
do justice to the hope you have for your child.
After all, names influence first impressions. They can trigger
great—or unpleasant—nicknames. They can affect your child’s
self-esteem. They can be a tangible, lasting link to a family legacy.
But let’s not forget that they can be fun. And that’s what this
book is all about.
Remember The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which comes out annu-
ally as a guide to each year’s trends, forecasts, and hot spots?
Aimed at farmers, of course, the book provides a way to put the
year into context, to navigate the shifting seasons, and to under-
stand all the factors swirling in the atmosphere.
The 2011 Baby Names Almanac aims to be a similar lifeline for
parents. With a finger on the pulse of pop culture and an ear to
the ground of what’s hip, new, and relevant, this book offers you
an instant, idiosyncratic snapshot of how the world today is shap-
ing what you may want to name your child tomorrow.
Jam-packed with information and ideas, plus thousands of
names to browse, this book analyzes the most recent trends and
fads in baby naming, offering up forecasts and predictions. You’ll
find our take on questions like these (and much more!):
• Which cutting-edge names are on the rise?
• Which popular names are on the decline?
• What influence do celebrities have on names?
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vi • The 2011 Baby Names Almanac
– Names in music: Has Miley peaked? Is Taylor now exclu-
sively a girl’s name?
– Names in movies: Could you name a kid Pandora?
– Names in sports: Is Peyton over? Will Rooney surge? And
what’s so great about Jacoby?
• How many babies get the most popular name, anyway?
• Which letter do most girls’ names start with? How about
boys’ names?
• What are the most popular “gender-neutral” names today—
and which gender uses each name more often? (If you name
your daughter Harley, will she find herself playing with lots
of other little girls named Harley—or little boys instead?)
• How can you take a trend and turn it into a name you love?
We understand that sometimes this information on trends and
popularity is hard to digest, so we’ve created some easy-to-visualize
graphics. Turn to page 4, for example, to see a map of the United
States showing where Isabella reigns and where little Jayden is king.
And what baby name book would be complete without the
names? Flip to page 59 to begin browsing through more than
20,000 names, including entries for the most popular names for
girls and boys as reported by the Social Security Administration
(www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames).
A little bit of a mishmash and a screenshot of the world today,
The 2011 Baby Names Almanac is like no other book out there.
Stuffed with ideas on what’s hip and hot and how you can take a
trend and turn it into a name you love, this book is your all-in-one
guide to baby names now.
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Inside the Popularity Charts
The Top 10
Let’s start with the most popular names in the country. Ranked
by the Social Security Administration (SSA), these names are
released around Mother’s Day each year. (The top 10 names get
the most attention, but you may also hear about the top 100. The
total number of names widely reported is 1,000.) In 2009 the
top 10 names were similar—but not identical to—the top 10 for
2008. Emma slid from first to second, unseated by the mighty
Isabella. (We’re pretty sure that has more than a little bit to do
with the Twilight series!) And you know Jayden hasn’t peaked
yet, because it climbed into the top 10 for the first time in 2009
(in 2000, it was way down at 194). Here’s a quick comparison of
2009 and 2008.
2009 Girls 2008 Girls 2009 Boys 2008 Boys
1. Isabella 1. Emma 1. Jacob 1. Jacob
2. Emma 2. Isabella 2. Ethan 2. Michael
3. Olivia 3. Emily 3. Michael 3. Ethan
4. Sophia 4. Madison 4. Alexander 4. Joshua
5. Ava 5. Ava 5. William 5. Daniel
6. Emily 6. Olivia 6. Joshua 6. Alexander
7. Madison 7. Sophia 7. Daniel 7. Anthony
8. Abigail 8. Abigail 8. Jayden 8. William
9. Chloe 9. Elizabeth 9. Noah 9. Christopher
10. Mia 10.Chloe 10.Anthony 10.Matthew
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2 • The 2011 Baby Names Almanac
Just How Many Isabellas Are There, Anyway?
Sure, these names are popular, but what does that mean? Well,
it seems that new parents are increasingly looking for off-the-
beaten-path names for their little ones, and it shows. According
to the SSA, the top 1,000 names represent 73.09 percent of all
babies born and named in the United States in 2009—a signifi-
cant drop from the 77.84 percent recorded in 2000.
Although parents of either gender have always been looking
beyond the top 1,000, parents of boys are more likely to pick a
name in that mix—79.03 percent of boys’ names are represented
on the top 1,000 list, while only 66.86 percent of girls’ names are.
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Inside the Popularity Charts • 3
Plus, although it may seem like you know a zillion people with
daughters named Madison or Ava, the most popular names are
actually bestowed upon a relatively small number of babies each year.
For example, in 2009 only 1 percent of all male babies born in the
United States (that’s 20,858 little guys total) got the most popular
name, Jacob. There are slightly
more girls (22,067 total) with the
Mary, Mary Quite
most popular name, Isabella, but
Contrary
even that’s only 1.12 percent of all
girls born. Only a fifth of the Jacob
Mary has been the most
total—4,134 babies—were given frequent number 1 girls’
the 100th most popular name, name over the past 100
Kyle. The number of babies with years, appearing in the top
the number 1 name is dropping spot 46 times. For boys? It’s
swiftly—back in 1999, the first Michael, topping the charts
year Jacob hit number 1, more 44 times.
than 35,000 boys got that name,
which is more than 15,000 additional babies compared to 2009. And
back in 1965, 4.28 percent of all male babies (a staggering 81,041
tots) were named Michael, the most popular name of that year. So if
you’ve got your heart set on naming your son Ethan but you’re wor-
ried that he’ll be surrounded by Ethans wherever he goes, take heart!
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