Story highlights
Sophia steals No. 1 spot from Isabella; Jacob earns No. 1 spot for 13th consecutive year
Names like Isabella, Mason bolster adage that list reflects common names in pop culture
Brantley and Briella make the biggest gains from 2010 to 2011
Data come from Social Security card applications for births in the United States in 2011
For the 13th year in a row, Jacob was the most popular name in 2011 for newborn boys in the United States, according to rankings released by the U.S. Social Security Administration.
Among girls, Sophia rose from No. 2 in 2010 to claim the No. 1 spot from Isabella, pushing her down to No. 2 in 2011, according to the annual top 10 list.
Mason cracked the the top 10 for the first time in 2011, bolstering the adage that the list reflects common names in pop culture. Mason, which held the No. 12 spot in 2010, is the name TV personality Kourtney Kardashian gave her son in 2009. Chloe – the name of Kardashian’s younger sister, except spelled with a “K” – has been in the top 10 since 2008. The name dropped from 9 in 2010 to 10 in 2011.
Jayden, the name of Britney Spears’ son, held on to the No. 4 spot for the second year in a row since making the top 10 in 2009. Time will tell whether Maxwell, the unconventional name that Jessica Simpson gave her daughter, will climb the list from its current spot at No. 134 as a boy’s name.
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And, of course, the names Bella (or Isabella) and Jacob, characters from the popular “Twilight” series, held their ground. Isabella entered the top 10 in 2004 at No. 7. Jacob entered the list at No. 9 in 1993 and began his winning streak in 1999.
Otherwise, the list contained most of the usual suspects, including William, Noah, Ethan, Emma, Olivia, Madison and Ava.
The names to make the biggest gains from 2010 to 2011 were Brantley, perhaps popularized by a country singer, and Briella, as in the “Jerseylicious” star, jumping 416 and 394 spots, respectively. That makes his name the 320th most popular and hers the 497th.
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Over the past 100 years, the names Michael and Mary have held the top spot most often: 44 times in both cases. The data come from Social Security card applications for births in the United States.
The complete list:
1. Jacob and Sophia
2. Mason and Isabella
3. William and Emma
4. Jayden and Olivia
5. Noah and Ava
6. Michael and Emily
7. Ethan and Abigail
8. Alexander and Madison
9. Aiden and Mia
10. Daniel and Chloe
Find out more at the U.S. Social Security Administration.
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