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Some parents choose their babe ’s name based on its meaning . Others front for the pedestal - outs : pop male child and young lady name calling that will please any pinna . And then there are parent that seek for something unique — think Gwyneth Paltrow ’s daughter Apple .
child name choices are n’t made in a vacuum . Without intending to , parent gravitate toward trendy phone . In recent years , the most democratic girl figure have been musical and vowel sound - filled , such as Sophia , Isabella , Olivia and Ava . A popular trend for boys has been the -en ending : Both Jayden and Aiden made the top 10 boy names in 2011 .
Trendy sounds and celebrities drive many parents to choose their baby’s name. But traditional names are high on the list, too.
Trendy sounds away , popularity is more likely to pass a name than to place it skyrocketing . [ Sophia ’s Secret : The 10 Most Popular Baby Names ]
" parent are terrified their kids ' names will become too popular , " Laura Wattenberg , source of " The Baby Name Wizard : A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby " ( Three Rivers Press , 2013 ) , told LiveScience in 2012 . " Everybodywants their kids to stand out . Nobody is disquieted about them fit out in . "
Most popular girl names
The drive for singularity is especially strong with lady friend names , as parents seem to feel detached to give female bundle of joy names run from traditionally masculine ( Madison ) to light and sweet ( Mia ) . Between 2007 and 2011 , four names held the top spot for girls : Emily , Emma , Isabella and Sophia .
Other top-10 girl names from the 2000s include Hannah , Abigail and Alexis .
The most popular young woman names of 2012 were :
1 . Sophia
2 . Emma
3 . Isabella
4 . Olivia
5 . Ava
6 . Emily
7 . Abigail
8 . Mia
9 . Madison
10 . Elizabeth
Most popular boy names
Parents have traditionally been a bit more conservative with boy names — Jacob , for case , place as the most popular male child name in the United States between 1999 and 2011 . Other traditional favourite , include Michael , Joshua and Matthew , have crowded out newcomers in the top 10 .
There are foretoken that this manful traditionality is crumbling , however . In 2011 , Mason shot up from No . 12 all the way to No . 2 . Mason is a traditional market keeper cognomen - turned - first - name , a popular movement in son names today . ( Other exercise admit Cooper and Tanner . ) Brand - Modern names have made their way to the top , too : Jayden ranked No . 4 for boys in 2011 . The name was possibly drive up the chart by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett , who chose to name their Logos Jaden in 1998 .
The most pop male child names of 2012 were :
1 . Francois Jacob
2 . Mason
3 . Ethan
4 . Noah
5 . William
6 . Liam
7 . Jayden
8 . Michael
9 . Alexander
10 . Aiden
Unique baby names
Celebrities sometimes help force back baby - key out trends . on occasion , a famous person name catch on among the worldwide populace ; other clock time , celebrity creativity helps push distinctive parents toward less - pop choices . If traditionally named Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise can get away with distinguish their daughter Suri , the average mama or dad might figure they can dig into the odd - name archive , too . Does n’t little Edmonia or Delmer strait precious ?
Names far below the top-10 list can reveal challenging vogue about what American parents desire in a name . Mila , as in actress Mila Kunis , jumped from No . 364 in 2010 to 174 in 2011 . The name is different , but not too unlike , fromappealing top-10 name Mia , concord to Pamela Redmond Satran , who helps start the sister - naming site Nameberry . The popularity of Spanish association football player Iker Casillas apparently drove the name Iker up 267 places on the U.S. name leaning in 2011 .
Unique baby names can sometimes grate , however . In 2011 , Wattenberg did an informal survey ofhated child namesand line up that Nevaeh , or " heaven " spell out backward , was the most ordinarily cited as a hat name . The name was invented in the 1990s and became the thirty-first most democratic in the United States in 2007 .
Then again , some people hate pop names , too . Madison , which has rank in the top 10 since 1997 , was another ofttimes - mentioned hated name . Madison - hater pronounce the feminization and popularity of the name annoyed them .
