Hi, friends. I had a strange obsession with looking through baby name books as a kid. It wasn’t about loving babies–I never even had a realistic baby doll…it was likely just an iteration of my love for anything related to reading or writing. I relished discovering the ethnic roots and definitions for all the names plus learning new names.
Even now, when I meet or hear of someone with several siblings, I want to know all their names so I can observe a pattern in their parents’ choices. All timeless names? All trendy names? All family names? An inexplicable variety? Okay, I’ll stop describing my weirdness now. But maybe some of you writers out there who enjoy creating characters will feel me.
The Social Security Administration in the US has released the two lists with the top ten baby names in 2017 for boys and girls. I keep expecting to see uber-suburban and/or made-up names rising in the ranks, and while I assume they are (ugh), they haven’t cracked the top ten lists yet.
Top Ten Names for Boys & Girls in 2017, US:
- Liam, Emma
- Noah, Olivia
- William, Ava
- James, Isabella
- Logan, Sophia
- Benjamin, Mia
- Mason, Charlotte
- Elijah, Amelia
- Oliver, Evelyn
- Jacob, Abigail
Lots of biblical names and classics–I’m pretty satisfied with that. I recalled that most of these names have been top ten for at least a decade, so I checked, and Emma’s held the top spot for almost a decade, and Jacob went from #1 to #10 in that time. I also observe names like Madison, Chloe, Michael, and Joshua decreasing in popularity.
Just for fun…
- Liam–Irish–“strong-willed warrior” or “resolute protection” (some sources contradict on the minute issues so I did my best, hence the word “or”)
- Emma–German–“universal”
- Noah–Hebrew–“rest”
- Olivia–Latin–“olive tree” (popularized by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night)
Thanks for reading! What are some popular names in your country? If you’re American, have you met lots of kids with these names?
Retrospective Lily 
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