When we named out first daughter Emma more than 16 years ago, we had no idea it would become the trendy, No. 1 girls’ name in 2009. We just liked the sound of it, which isn’t all that different from the name it kicked out of the top spot – Emily, a longstanding favorite.
As the Emily/Emma swap illustrates, we Americans are OK with incremental change. That’s why sound-alike names will be the big winners this year, according to author Bruce Lansky, “The Baby Name Guru”. Chloe has moved into the girls’ top-10 list, while sound-alike Zoey is now in the top 100, according to the Social Security Administration. Aubrey has leap-frogged sound-alike Audrey and both are expected to continue climbing up the list from their solid footing in the lower-40s. Peyton and Payton each jumped more than 60 spots and are likely to keep rising. (Meanwhile, football pro Peyton Manning isn’t inspiring as many boys’ parents, perhaps because of the name’s growing popularity for girls!)
Faith-based names such as Genesis and Leah have moved into the top 100, while several others have cooled off – Faith, Sara, Rachel and Neveah (Heaven spelled backward) among them.
Brooklyn has displaced Sydney as the No. 1 place name on the girls’ list, at the expense of Brooke, which seems to be waning in popularity.
Old-fashioned names are becoming popular again with Madeline and Madelyn topping that trend.
What about the boys? More on that next week!
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What are the trendy baby names for the new decade? Check these out!.
