Parenting & New Baby Advice Blog

Archive for the ‘Baby Names’ Category

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) English dramatist, poet Romeo and Juliet, II:2 When we went to the hospital to deliver our twins, we had prepared a list of baby names worthy of the forty (40) weeks of anticipation for our babies’ birth. The list consisted of myriad names, all with sentimental value, significant literal meaning, or hip-sounding “twinny” alliteration. All of the ultrasounds had been labeled “Baby A” and “Baby B.” Although we thought we were prepared, the twin girls born on April 14, 1997, remained “Baby A” and “Baby B” as we sought for names that were worthy of such special, beautiful babies. When the girls were born, we looked at those tiny faces of the five (5) pound bundles of joy, and decided that none of the names on our list really “fit.” I know it sounds silly that two unformed, premature infants would astound us in such a way as to make putting a name on a birth certificate such a perplexing feat. But, it is a permanent, lasting “label,” if you will. Some believe it actually foretells a child’s destiny. (Some understand it will at least foretell a child’s treatment on the playground.)  Born in 1971, my parents named me “Starr.” My father tells me it is due to his obsession with the television show, “Star Trek.” My mother will say it is because a print of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” hung in their bedroom. One of my mother’s hippie students came to visit me as a baby. Over a bowl of chocolate ice cream, she remarked, “Well” At least you didn’t name her” ‘COW’!” My grandmother said, “I am not going to call her that. That is not a name!” My mother asked, “What are you going to call her then?” Her response: “I don’t know, but I’m not going to call her THAT!” While thumbing through baby name books, I found my name, Starr, under the category of: “Names that are too much to live up to.” Perhaps. It was now time to name my children. After three (3) days of deliberation and prayer, we came up with the names “Zoe Claire” and “Skylar Ruth.” Zoe means “life” in Greek. Claire means “bright & shining” in French. Skylar means “scholar” in Dutch, and Ruth is Biblical and means “compassionate friend.” We announced the names of our twins to all of the family except my mother-in-law, Ruth. She came to the hospital and proclaimed, “Do my granddaughters have names yet?” The room was filled with relatives who were thrilled with the babies and the nomenclature. I told her their names were “Zoe” and “Skylar.” With a laugh, she said, “No — really — what are their names?”  Her reaction yielded a roomful of chuckles as my father whispered, “Ruth, they’re serious.” Stunned, she replied, “Oh” What are their middle names?” “Zoe Claire and Skylar Ruth.” Ignoring the fact that one of them bore her name, she continued in shock, “How do you spell those names?!”

Today, she thinks these names are both beautiful and God-given. My grandmother eventually felt the same about my stellar name. Do not be surprised if, on the day you meet your new offspring, you will be taken aback as we were, and throw out all preconceived notions of his or her destiny, and, most of all, the name he/she will carry with them throughout their life.

Did you know that the social security administration keeps a running tally of the most popular names given to new baby girls each year? When the proud parents apply for a social security number for their new little one, the SSA puts it in their database. Each year they release a list of the most popular names across the United States and they even break it down into most popular names state by state. If you want to see where you or your child’s name ranked on this year’s list, just visit the Social Security website.

In 2006, the top 10 U.S. baby girl’s names in order of popularity were Emily, Emma, Madison, Isabella, Ava, Abigail, Olivia, Hannah, Sophia and Samantha. If you had twin girl’s in 2006, you likely went with one of the top names for twin girl’s handed out in the U.S. – Ella & Emma, Madison & Morgan, Gabriella & Isabella, or Faith & Hope.

Of course, the popularity of given names varies by state as cultural background and ethnicity play significant roles in the baby name selection process. Take the name Mia for instance, it was the #1 most popular girl’s name in Arizona and the 4^th most popular name given to girls in California. However, Mia ranked 13^th overall in the U.S. In Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota, the name Grace ranked in the top 5 while it ranked 17^th overall in the U.S.

The most popular baby names of 2006 were recently released by the Social Security Administration. Each year the government tracks the statistics for baby names across the United States by tallying the number of times a particular name shows up on the social security number applications submitted to their office. Then each Spring, they release that tabulated data to the public which can be viewed online at the Social Security website.

This year there weren’t any real surprises on the list of the most popular boy’s names in the United States. The most interesting trends showed up in the state by state analysis which clearly showed naming trends reflect the ethnic, local and cultural backgrounds of the parents. Across the U.S as a whole, the top 10 baby boy names of 2006 were as follows (in order of popularity): Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Ethan, Matthew, Daniel, Christopher, Andrew, Anthony and William.  The top five names on this list have been the top 5 names for boys for the last 3 years running.

As for the state by state tallies, the boys name Angel was ranked number 1 in Arizona, number 3 in California and Nevada. However, it ranked as the 17^th most popular name in the US overall.  Two of the top five names in Hawaii are Dylan and Elijah. Yet these names rank 26^th and 29^th respectively in the overall U.S.

Just for fun, you should visit the Social Security Administration’s website to see where the names of your children show up. Better yet, look up your name and your spouse’s name to see just how popular your names were in the year you were born. You might be surprised to see just how popular your name was back then.