POLL: Would You Name Your Baby After a Kardashian?
The most popular baby name’s list suggests pop culture is a common inspiration.
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Are you having trouble naming your baby?
Here’s one source of inspiration: The U.S. Social Security Administration’s annual list of most popular baby names.
It’s fun to look at what’s popular now: Jacob, Mason, William, Jayden and Noah reign for boys, and Sophia, Isabella, Emma, Olivia and Ava dominate the top 5 list for girl names in 2011, according to the list the Social Security Administration released Monday.
The Christian Science Monitor charts some of the celebrity influences that might be inspiring new parents. Reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian named her son Mason, and so did many other Americans, the Monitor reports.
And the name Briella has been creeping up in popularity among American babies, at the same time a reality TV star of the same name appears on “Jerseylicious,” the Monitor said.
Here’s another fun way to search for baby names--You can look at the most popular baby names by decade on the Social Security Administration site.
In the 1930s, the top five baby girl names were Mary, Betty, Barbara, Shirley and Patricia; boys were Robert, James, John, William and Richard.
In the 1980s, it was Jessica, Jennifer, Amanda, Ashley and Sarah; boys were Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and David.
Here are a few baby name that tickled my fancy… picked out of the top 200 baby names of the 1880s: for girls: Clara, Alice, Cora, Pearl and Mattie; for boys: Jasper, Simon, Felix, Franklin and Oliver.
Weigh in on our poll below or tell us in comments: What was the inspiration for your baby’s name?
Lisa Rossi
3:03 pm on Monday, May 14, 2012
We choose the name for our child, Gabriel, from a name my husband liked in a baby names book. His middle name of Martin is for my dad, who has the same name. We struggled until THE MINUTE my child was born to agree on a name, but I couldn't picture my little guy--now 18 months-- with any other name.
Danna Walker
6:14 pm on Monday, May 14, 2012
I admit it, both my children were named for pop culture references -- my son, Jackson, for the singer/songwriter Jackson Browne, and my daughter, Clementine, because I read that actress Cybill Shepherd named her daughter that, and I liked it. My daughter now goes by Clem, which really suits her.
Brian Hooks
6:18 pm on Monday, May 14, 2012
I have always thought my son's name should be Rusty, but I doubt I will find a woman to agree with that...
Bruce Goldfarb
10:05 pm on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Both of my girls were named after songs, Bob Dylan's "Quinn the Eskimo (Mighty Quinn)" and Bob Marley's "Kaya."