The Social Security administration has released its yearly list of popular baby names in the United States. The SS administration has been tracking names on its website since 1997 and has statistics available there for every year since 1880.
Topping the list of girl's names for the twelfth year in a row was Emily. Isabella, in the number two spot was so close in popularity to Emily that this might be Emily's last year at number one.
The top name for boys was once again Jacob. Jacob has topped this list every year since 1999 despite the fact that it's meaning is supplanter or trickster. Jacob like 75% of the top twenty boy's names is a biblical name revealing America's Judeo-Christian roots.
In fact, along with biblical names there as also been a rise in spiritual names such as Nevaeh (which spells heaven backwards) which rose from the #43 slot up to #31. Other spiritual risers include Destiny (at #41), Serenity (#126), and Harmony (#315).
Elizabeth is back in the top ten after a two year hiatus. Samantha slipped two spots this year pushing her out of the top ten to number twelve. As usual there was a high number of girl's names ending with a soft “a” sound such as Emma, Ava, Sophia, Olivia, Hannah, Alyssa, and Mia.
Dominating the list of popular twin's names were once again Jacob and Joshua. It seems Americans just love to give each twin a name that starts with the same letter. Other popular twin pairs include Daniel/David, Matthew/Michael and Ella/Emma.
The Top Twenty Names for Boys and Girls in 2007
Boys Girls
1. Jacob Emily
2. Michael Isabella
3. Ethan Emma
4. Joshua Ava
5. Daniel Madison
6. Christopher Sophia
7. Anthony Olivia
8. William Abigail
9. Matthew Hannah
10. Andrew Elizabeth
11. Alexander Addison
12. David Samantha
13. Joseph Ashley
14. Noah Alyssa
15. James Mia
16. Ryan Chloe
17. Logan Natalie
18. Jayden Sarah
19. John Alexis
20. Nicholas Grace
