Or, subscribe via email
Supporting
Naming a child is a big responsibility. The name we give them, they carry for the rest of their lives. Finding the perfect name is sometimes a daunting task. The responsibility, to me at least, seems huge. You don’t want to saddle your child with a name they are going to hate, or that causes them a ton of grief as they grow up. You want to pick a name that suites them and is one they will be proud to utter, one they can grow up with and not every think twice about. I hope I have accomplished that for both my girls.
Very early on in this pregnancy I had a pretty strong feeling I was carrying another girl. The same thing had happened when I was pregnant with Maya so I pretty much trusted my instincts. Even though everyone else seemed to think the baby was going to be a boy I quietly trusted my instincts and started thinking about what girl names I liked and I would add to my short list for future name discussions with Lorne. I had a small list ready to go the day we had our ultrasound and it was confirmed that my instincts were indeed correct again and we were having another little girl.
One of the very first names I thought of was the name Anna. My very favorite fictional character from my very favorite book is Anne from Anne of Green Gables. I thought it would be neat to honor that love but I didn’t really like the name Anne so I thought, why not do a spin on the name and go with Anna. It is a beautiful, simple, classic name and goes well with our last name. It was a beautiful name that would also always hold special meaning for me. I added it to the top of my list and kept my fingers crossed that Lorne would agree to it.
We discussed names for a while, tossed around a few suggestions, but I always came back to my favorite, Anna. Finally, Lorne agreed that he liked that name too and it was settled. Lorne chose the middle name of Lily. It is actually one of our cat’s names and a name I have always loved. We really liked the way the name flowed with Anna.
Anna Lily, our beautiful, sweet, amazing bundle of joy. Anna means grace and so far that describes her perfectly.
The popularity of baby names changes over the years. What is super popular one year will completely drop off the list a few years later. That is, when it comes to names for girls anyway. Turns out that not much has changed over the years when it comes to boys names. What was popular 100 years ago is still fairly popular today. Over the last 100 years the same boys names have dominated the list, names like William, James, Michael and Joshua. Whereas with girls names the names that dominated the list 100 years ago are completely gone from the list now.
The name that has sat in the top spot for girls most frequently over the last 100 years is Mary (although it hasn’t even been on the list since 1967). For boys the name that has dominated the top spot most often is Michael. Michael was last the number one name back in 1998, but is still in the top five today.
Last year the top five girls names were:
- Isabella
- Emma
- Olivia
- Sophia
- Ava
100 years ago, in 1909 the list looked very different with the top 5 girls names being:
- Mary
- Helen
- Margaret
- Dorothy
- Ruth
Last year the top 5 boys names were:
- Jacob
- Ethan
- Michael
- Alexander
- William
100 years ago the list looked different, but not entirely:
- John
- James
- William
- Robert
- George
Why do you think popular girls names are always changing while the top boys names seem to hang around?
With 2009 now in full swing I thought it would be a good time to bring to your the list of last year’s most popular baby names. Not many changes to the list, a lot of the names that have topped the list in recent years are still safely on the list.
Girls
- Emma
- Sophia
- Madison
- Isabella
- Olivia
- Ava
- Madeline
- Addison
- Hailey
- Lily
Boys
- Aiden
- Jayden
- Ethan
- Jacob
- Caden
- Jackson
- Noah
- Jack
- Logan
- Matthew
As always I will be anxious to see what names make the big list this year.
Did you have a baby last year? What name did you give your child, was it in the top 10?
The Social Security Administration has released the list of the most popular names of 2007. No surprises, Emily topped the girls list again and Jacob topped the boys list. Emily has been the reigning champion on the girl’s list since 1996 so you shouldn’t be surprised when you child ends up with several Emily’s in their class in school!! Jacob has been long reigning as well, not as long as Emily, but it has been on top since 1999.
And the top ten are……
GIRLS
1. Emily
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Ava
5. Madison
6. Sophia
7. Olivia
8. Abigail
9. Hannah
10. Elizabeth
BOYS
1. Jacob
2. Michael
3. Ethan
4. Joshua
5. Daniel
6. Christopher
7. Anthony
8. William
9. Matthew
10. Andrew
I wonder when the lists will get their next big change and new recurring champions. When I was little it was Jennifer and Michael. Michael is of course a main stay on the boys list, but Jennifer has disappeared from the girls list. Some of the names you see on the list will always be there, but others will come and go. I think it is fun to see what makes the cut every year.
Did your child’s name end up in the top ten? What were the major influences on what names you came up with?
Something seems to happen to the common sense of a celebrity when it comes to picking a name for their baby, it disappears. With all common sense right out the window we get names like Pilot Inspektor or Moxie Crimefighter.
I found this fun poll on Baby Center where you can vote for the craziest celebrity baby name. My personal choice was Pilot Inspektor, I mean that is a profession not someone’s name!! What is your pick for the wackiest celebrity baby name?
Coming up with a good name for your baby can be difficult (I know from experience). According to a survey taken of readers on Baby Center 33% of readers said that picking a name for their baby was very difficult and drove them crazy. 26% said it took them 8 months or longer to come up with a name. I wonder how many parents don’t have a name picked out yet as they are driving to the hospital to have the baby?
Did you and your partner have a hard time picking out a name? What sort of ground rules did you set? Did you get tons of suggestions from all your relatives?