Analysis of 2007 SSA list

[ckevans]

I find it a bit ironic that the new SSA list was posted only a few hours after I posted the 2007 Nebraska data! As is to be expected, I am spending the weekend perusing both the SSA list and the full Nebraska list. And I have recently joined the 1990s by getting Internet at home, so I have decided to share some of my findings here. Of course, many of you are probably doing the same sort of thing.

First, one of the simplest things to do is a simple "in-out" analysis between 2006 and 2007. I've just finished that for the boys' list. I used the 2006 list as originally posted last May do do this; as I discovered last year, SSA adds in data from "late" registrations, so the data posted now for 2006 are not exactly like those from last May, but of course there aren't enough changes to make really significant differences.

OUT: Boys' names on 2006, not in 2007: Anders, Austen, Austyn, Benny, Bode, Braulio, Brogan, Coen, Darrius, Denzel, Destin, Dion, Domenic, Earl, Eddy, Franco, Gannon, Guadalupe, Guy, Imanol, Jaheim, Jan, Jerimiah, Johnpaul, Jordy, Josef, Kael, Kamren, Keyshawn, Koen, Korey, Kyan, Landan, Mikel, Perry, Sammy, Santana, Shannon, Stephan, Travon, Valentino, Zakary

IN: Boys' names on 2007 list, not on 2006: Adin, Amarion, Amos, Bentley, Dax, Daxton, Dereon, Dimitri, Elian, Eliezer, Elvin, Emery, Fisher, Fletcher, Immanuel, Isaak, Jagger, Jaidyn, Jaren, Jaydan, Jayvion, Jayvon, Kamryn, Kelan, Kellan , Kelton, Killian, Lyric, Madden, Mariano, Nery, Nikolai, Raiden, Reilly, Rishi, Slade, Tegan, Turner, Vince, Yael, Yurem

But 21 of the 42 "in" names aren't really new; they are names which were last on the SSA list in 2005, 2004, or 2003, and so aren't names which really have new popularity, but names whose low level popularity is such that they drift back and forth over the #1000 level.

Of the other 21, five are "revivals", having been on the top 1000 list at some point before 2000. They are (with the lastest previous year they were on the list): Bentley (1962); Dax (1978); Emery (1982); Killian (1998); and Vince (1992).

These five are an interesting group. Bentley is a surname which has only been on the SSA top 1000 given names list a few times since 1880; its appearance in 1961 and 1962 was obviously because of John Forsythe playing the character Bentley Gregg on the TV series Bachelor Father, the same program which cemented Kelly as being a girls' name.
Killian was on the SSA list (never getting above #900) between 1992 and 1998. It will be interesting to see if its return is a fluke, or if it has another run of regular use with Irish-American parents looking for something a bit different.

The brand new names, never on the SSA list before in its 128 year history, are Daxton, Dereon, Jaydan, Jayvion, Kamryn, Kelan, Kellan, Lyric, Madden, Nery, Nikolai, Raiden, Slade, Tegan, Yael, and Yurem.
I think I will post a thread about these asking about some pop culture associations of some of these on the main advice board. After that I will be off to add together spellings and will come back to give you the top 50 or so on the SSA list when that is done. And then this afternoon, on to the girls!

[ckevans]

OK, here is what I've come up with when I combine spellings I believe are pronounced the same. And that means that I didn't even add in Adan to get the figure for Aidan, since some of those are Hispanic "ah-DAHN"s instead of respellings of Aidan. :)

1. Aiden 28,301
2. Jayden 26,148
3. Jacob 24,980
4. Michael 22,261
5. Christopher 21,303
6. Ethan 20,992
7. Joshua 20,254
8. Daniel 19,869
9. Matthew 19,332
10. Anthony 19,316
11. William 18,595
12. Nicholas 18,486
13. Alexander 18,246
14. Andrew 18,157
15. Caden 17,755
16. Christian 17,268
17. David 17,182
18. Joseph 17,018
19. Jonathan 16,796
20. Noah 16,373
21. Ryan 15,711
22. James 15,708
23. Logan 15,137
24. John 14,716
25. Jackson 14,665
26. Caleb 14,566
27. Dylan 14,438
28. Tyler 13,906
29. Nathan 13,632
30. Bryan 13,149
31. Samuel 13,088
32. Benjamin 13,047
33. Brayden 12,748
34. Gabriel 12,703
35. Elijah 12,646
36. Brandon 12,513
37. Gavin 12,319
38. Cameron 12,064
39. Zachary 11,865
40. Connor 11,836
41. Landon 11,694
42. Isaiah 11,368
43. Angel 11,184
44. Jose 11,103
45. Isaac 11,041
46. Jordan 10,818
47. Mason 10,644
48. Kevin 10,623
49. Jack 10,525
50. Eric 10,301
51. Lucas 10,59
52. Evan 10,141
53. Justin 9,902
54. Luke 9,479
55. Robert 9,228
56. Sean 9,217
57. Aaron 9,155
58. Austin 9,089
59. Jason 8,886
60. Thomas 8,799
61. Owen 8,167
62. Hunter 8,111
63. Diego 8,108
64. Luis 7,932
65. Adrian 7,866
66. Dominic 7,355
67. Tristan 7,330
68. Charles 7,321
69. Juan 7,309
70. Devin 7,159
71. Xavier 7,102
72. Julian 7,097
73. Steven 6,816
74. Nathaniel 6,806
75. Jeremiah 6,730
76. Adam 6,673
77. Hayden 6,657
78. Ian 6,449
79. Wyatt 6,445
80. Carlos 6,339
81. Carter 6,294
82. Sebastian 6,196
83. Alex 6,180
84. Jesus 6,128
85. Chase 6,073
86. Cole 6,010
87. Colin 5,766
88. Damian 5,640
89. Carson 5,524
90. Kyle 5,290
91. Blake 5,197
92. Liam 5,069
93. Henry 5,52
94. Brady 4,911
95. Alan 4,874
96. Miguel 4,831
97. Brody 4,758
98. Giovanni 4,660
99. Colton 4,632
100. Jaylen 4,618
101. Cooper 4,577

[ckevans]

Here is the "in and out" for girls' names between 2006 and 2007:

OUT: Akeelah, Alia, Alize, Amirah, Bethzy, Betsy, Carol, Cayla, Chana, Christiana, Citlali, Colleen, Destiney, Donna, Ericka, Estefani, Fabiola, Halie, Iyanna, Jalyn, Jorja, Karis, Katharine, Kayli, Kya, Lacie, Malaya, Margarita, Maura, McKinley, Micaela, Mireya, Nathalia, Nichole, Nicolette, Nya, Riya, Rocio, Sanai, Savana, Selene, Shakira, Sheyla, Stacey, Tatianna, Tayla, Tayler, Tina, Trista, Yvette

IN:
First, the names that are returning after a very short time (2000 or more recently), and so are probably non-significant "bounce backs":

Allyssa, Anabel, Antonia, Celine, Delia, Devyn, Diya, Graciela, Hayleigh, Ireland, Jailyn, Jaylen, Maren, Marlen, Maryjane, Shirley, Sky, Yamilet

Next, "revival" names, with the last previous year they were on the top 1000 list since 1880:

Alannah (1990); Dixie (1983); Emmy (1885, though the spelling Emmie was last on the list in 1935); Evie (1941); Olive (1950)

And the brand new names, never on the SSA list before 2007:

Adalyn, Adelyn, Aliana, Alyvia, Audrina, Azaria, Azul, Giada, Giuliana, Jaeda, Jaslene, Jazlynn, Jocelynn, Jordin, Joseline, Kelis, Kylah, Lillianna, Londyn, Madilynn, Marely, Miley, Mylee, Mylie, Shiloh, Zaniya, and Zaniyah

Giada and Giuliana seem to be new examples of the revival of traditional Italian names in the Italian-American community. I will now go put a post on the Advice board about some of the pop culture influences on the other names.

[racquet]

Wow, thanks for doing that.

[emmasea]

Thanks for the analysis. I haven't actually had a chance to look at the list myself, but in many ways I'd much rather just read someone's analysis of it anyway :)

[ckevans]

And here is the top 100 with spellings added together for girls. To give you an idea of how many different spellings there are, in my list the 1000 top names collapse into 679 names when you put the spellings together. And as you can see, Emily really has been dethroned as #1 by a Greek this year. :)

1. Sophia 22,778
2. Emily 21,773
3. Isabella 20,974
4. Madison 20,326
5. Emma 18,127
6. Ava 17,865
7. Hailey 17,619
8. Abigail 16,824
9. Olivia 16,329*
10. Kaitlyn 15,379
11. Brianna 14,979
12. Addison 14,529
13. Hannah 14,466
14. Sarah 13,761
15. Elizabeth 13,440
16. Ashley 12,786
17. Natalie 12,440
18. Alyssa 12,407
19. Jasmine 12,244
20. Madeline 12,159
21. Samantha 11,689
22. Kaylee 11,439
23. Chloe 11,303
24. Mia 11,087
25. Lily 10,408
26. Katherine 10,345
27. Alexis 10,228
28. Anna 9,937
29. Riley 9,817
30. Grace 9,573
31. Arianna 9,525
32. Ella 9,415
33. Makayla 9,354
34. Maya 9,226
35. Jocelyn 8,867
36. Savannah 8,737
37. Mackenzie 8,673
38. Kylie 8,667
39. Gabriella 8,561
40. Isabelle 8,479
41. Allison 8,388
42. Zoe 8,369
43. Kayla 8,165
44. Lauren 8,008
45. Taylor 7,871
46. Victoria 7,296
47. Lillian 7,237
48. Nevaeh 6,994
49. Sydney 6,945
50. Layla 6,551
51. Brooklyn 6,544
52. Destiny 6,385
53. Aaliyah 6,316
54. Jordan 6,261
55. Aubrey 6,142
56. Julia 6,066
57. Leah 5,762
58. Jada 5,709
59. Alexa 5,694
60. Avery 5,667
61. Jessica 5,623
62. Morgan 5,602
63. Rachel 5,550
64. Brooke 5,451
65. Evelyn 5,387
66. Bailey 5,330
67. Jayden 5,327
68. Alexandra 5,285
69. Megan 5,272
70. Audrey 5,180
71. Keira 5,035
72. Kimberly 5,032
73. Claire 5,029
74. Maria 5,021
75. Peyton 5,005
76. Adriana 4,943
77. Angelina 4,776
78. Andrea 4,738
79. Melanie 4,727
80. Jennifer 4,567
81. Rebecca 4,517
82. Gabrielle 4,475
83. Vanessa 4,386
84. Trinity 4,307
85. Juliana 4,263
86. Faith 4,231
87. Carly 4,202
88. Daniela 4,183
89. Amelia 4,129
90. Gianna 4,125
91. Stephanie 4,116
92. Liliana 4,059
93. Kaelyn 4,043
94. Mariah 3,927
95. Sophie 3,923
96. Camryn 3,899
97. Nicole 3,802
98. Cheyenne 3,796
99. Leslie 3,770
100. Jaelyn 3,749
101. Molly 3,746
102. Paige 3,737
103. Diana 3,701
104. Autumn 3,664
105. Jacqueline 3,643
106. Mary 3,622
107. Kennedy 3,551
108. Cadence 3,545
109. Michelle 3,542
110. Ashlyn 3,470

*Because I personally pronounce an "Oh" very strongly in the first syllable of Olivia, I can never get myself to add in the girls named Alivia. But if you do that, the figure for Olivia becomes 18,233, which would bump its rank up to #5.

I extended this to 11o primarily to show you all where Mary was. To most Americans 50 years ago, the idea that there would be so many more girls named Autumn, Cheyenne, Jayden, Destiny, etc. than Mary in a given year would have seemed like a complete fantasy. :)

[Fog-struck]

Thank you for putting this together!

I'm very surprised by Sophia's popularity.

[isarene]

Wow, very interesting! Thanks for doing all of that.

[Momoko]

wow, thanks much for the effort you've put into this! I love looking at the list this way.

I'm not surprised at all about Aidan and Sophia. I'd figure with Aidan that the multitude of ways to spell it adds up in the end and it is the quintessential trend name.

Sophia also seems likely as a number one candidate. It's familiar, latin-based, soft and feminine, has an "exotic" image, has virtually no current mainstream negative associations (Unless you consider Sofia Coppola who, despite a lovely career as a director, may or may not have been the downfall of Godfather III... err, I disgress), and is extremely well known.

I'm just surpised it took this long.

[OakleysMom]

I am not surprised to see Adalyn and Adelyn make the list (I am actually more surprised that they were not already on the list) I think the nn Addie is becoming VERY popular. At least in my neck of the woods. I personally know 3 girls who go by Addie all with different fn's (Addison, Adalyn, and Adrianna) I don't know that many kids either. I wish they made a list of the popularity of the nn's kids go by. I noticed that Sophie wasnt far down the list either and probalby at least 1/2 of the Sophia's will go by Sophie, so it is evan more popular.


Thanks for all of your hard work with the list, very interesting work.

[pam_ny]

That's very interesting. Thanks for the effort!

[nomdeplume]

Thank you. I love all this analysis you've done. It's even more interesting than the list itself.

You noted that Mary, which 50 years ago was #1, has slipped all the way to 106. I have two observations about name trends over the last half century.

First, I'm intrigued by the fact that the 1,000 girls names are really only 679 names when you combine spellings. Kre8tiv spellings have certainly become much more mainstream than they once were -- not the spellings themselves, but the idea that it's desirable to spell a name in an unconventional way. (I saw a chart not long ago that listed close 150 documented spellings of Caitlin.)

Second, the whole idea of giving a child a popular name is now unpopular. Far fewer children are given the most popular names today than was true 50 years. Here's a comparison:

In 2007, the official #1 girl's name, Emily, was given to 19,105 babies, or 0.9%. In 1957, the official #1 girl's name, Mary, was given to 61,106 babies, or 2.9%.

In 2007, the official #1 boy's name, Jacob, was given to 23,886 babies, or 1.1%. In 1957, the official #1 girl's name, Michael, was given to 92,688 babies, or 4.2%.

With those numbers, the current #1's would have ranked only around #20 on the 1957 list. Today's Emily and Jacob have much less chance of running into other kids who share them than 1957's Mary and Michael did.

[Galaxy Chaser]

Daxton is a name I now like a lot.

Miley, Mylee, Mylie-not surprised a bit too see the name becoming more popular. I'm more surprised not to see it in the original spelling Maile.

Just not surprised at all to see a lot "celebrity baby names" on the charts ex. Kingston, Shiloh, Maddox, Olive etc.

Thanks for doing this :).

[kacykc]

THANK YOU Cleveland!! :bowdown: I always think that SSA list should combine spellings to be accurate! Awesome!

[owl]

That's awesome, thanks so much for all your data-crunching!!

So interesting to see how Aidan/Jayden/Sophia move up when you combine spellings!

I'm surprised w/ all the celebrity names making the list that Suri hasn't been on it yet!

[Anais]

In 1957, the official #1 boy's name, Michael, was given to 92,688 babies, or 4.2%.

Hey, that's when my Uncle Michael was born! Interesting!

Your lists are so fascinating! I'm slightly surprised that Sophia is THAT popular, but at the same time I am happy as I much prefer Sophia to Emily and the change is refreshing.

Happy to see how far down Mary is on the list! Losing popularity is cool with me! Also happy to hear that Anders is not on the list this year! :hface: those names!

Thanks for doing all the work for us! :)

[cinerdy]

Amazing stats! Thank you!