THE YEARLY NAME GAME

By Dan Miller 

May 20, 2008

For 12 straight years 'Emily' has been the name most often given to newborn girls in the U.S.

And for 9 years in a row, 'Jacob' has been #1 for little boys.

It's only been in recent years that both those names showed dramatic jumps in popularity.

In fact, the first time 'Emily' ever climbed into the top 20 names was in 1987.

In the decade of the 1950s, 'Emily' was #225 on the popularity list.

As for 'Jacob'... it never even made it to the top 20 until 1990.If you go back to the 1950s, 'Jacob' came in at #320.

Wow!... there were 319 boys' names more popular than Jacob.I'm not even sure I can come up with 319 names.

While 'Emily' and 'Jennifer' have dominated recent years for females... if you go back to the first half of the 1900s... 'Mary' was far and away the leader.

And while 'Michael' and 'Jacob' have been the dominant names for males in recent years... you'd be hard pressed to find either name listed anywhere in the early 1900s.

Here's a list of the 10 most recent popular names (2007).... followed by the top 10 names from 25, 50 and 100 years ago.

(2007)

BOYS..... Jacob, Michael, Ethan, Joshua, Daniel, Christopher, Anthony, William, Matthew, Andrew.GIRLS.... Emily, Isabella, Emma, Ava, Madison, Sophia, Olivia, Abigail, Hannah, Elizabeth.

(1983)

BOYS..... Michael, Christopher, Matthew, David, Joshua, James, Jason, Daniel, John, Robert.

GIRLS.... Jennifer, Jessica, Amanda, Ashley, Sarah, Melissa, Nicole, Stephanie, Heather, Elizabeth.

(1958)

BOYS..... Michael, David, James, Robert, John, William, Mark, Richard, Thomas, Steven.

GIRLS.... Mary, Susan, Linda, Karen, Patricia, Debra, Deborah, Cynthia, Barbara, Donna.

(1908)

BOYS..... John, William, James, George, Robert, Joseph, Charles, Frank, Edward, Thomas.

GIRLS.... Mary, Helen, Margaret, Ruth, Anna, Dorothy, Elizabeth, Mildred, Alice, Marie.

As for what causes a name to rise or fall in popularity, it sometimes has to do with the emergence of a national hero or celebrity.But more often, it just happens.

I got all this information from the Social Security Administration, which maintains a fascinating website with tons of information about the popularity of names for specific years and decades, going back to 1880.CLICK HERE and check out the popular names for the year you were born. 

That is, unless you were born before 1880.

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