2011 Baby Names Almanac - Emily Larson [9]
710
188
Harrison (Benjamin)
184
242
Pierce (Franklin)
498
481
Boys’ Names
2000 Rank
2009 Rank
Jefferson (Thomas)
716
587
Wilson (Woodrow)
526
539
Ways to Make This Trend Your Own
Options still off the radar: Roosevelt (pick your fave!), Harding
(Warren), Cleveland (Grover)
Options trending down: Clinton (William)
Sarah Palin Names
The former governor of Alaska has used some pretty unusual names for her children (and her daughter Bristol continued this with her own son, Tripp), and those names have steadily moved upward on the charts:
Bristol (entered the baby girl charts this year at 666)
Piper (jumped 71 percent since 2000 to a high of 147 this year)
Willow (jumped 59 percent since 2000 to a high of 315 this year)
Tripp (entered baby boy charts at 930 in 2008, stands at 671 this year)
Levi, the father of Bristol’s son, Tripp, is also on the rise. The other unusual boys’ names associated with Palin’s family (Trigg and Track) haven’t cracked the top 1,000 yet…but expect to see them soon.
NATURE NAMES
Are you a nature lover? Are you planning to make your little one a part of your outdoorsy lifestyle? Despite perhaps a rise in eco-consciousness, many of these nature names are in free fall. Does that mean they’re ripe for the picking?
Girls’ Names
2000 Rank
2009 Rank
Daisy
141
153
Violet
738
141
Summer
145
175
Sierra
53
198
Rose
299
352
Ways to Make This Trend Your Own
Options still off the radar: Blossom, Evergreen, Lake, Everest, Skye, Azalea
Boys’ Names
2000 Rank
2009 Rank
Hunter
35
56
River
612
448
Fisher
—
841
Stone
722
994
Ways to Make This Trend Your Own
Options still off the radar: Ranger, Trail, Trek, Forest, Cliff, Scout
WHAT’S GOING ON WITH MACKENZIE?
The girls’ name Mackenzie suddenly debuted on the top 1,000 in 1976, which isn’t all that surprising considering that Mackenzie Phillips was one of the stars of One Day at a Time, a longtime TV hit that debuted in December of 1975. What’s interesting, though, is that after 15 years of languishing in the lower to middle part of the list, Mackenzie began to take off in popularity in 1990, going from 247 in that year to its present ranking of 77. It’s been solidly in the hot 100 since 1995, and several of its variants are incredibly popular today as well. Take a look at how they stack up:
Name
2009 Rank
Mackenzie/MacKenzie
77
Mckenzie/McKenzie
155
Makenzie
172
Mckenna/McKenna
213
Makenna
243
Kinsley
428
Kinley
451
Kenley
659
Mckinley/McKinley
760
Makena
950
ENDS WITH AN -O
Many boys’ names with Spanish or Italian heritage end in an -o suffix, which can go beautifully with countless last names. Plus, they’re O-so-romantic! Imagine calling for little Francisco or Romeo across the playground—all the other moms will swoon! Madonna’s young son Rocco (2009 rank: 389, a steady climber since 2001) is an example of this trend.
It’s an interesting twist that there aren’t many popular girls’ names ending in -o, and the ones that are fairly common might be nicknames for another name (Coco, Cleo, or Margo, for example).
Here’s another tip: they make fantastic middle names too.
Name
2009 Rank
Alejandro
121
Eduardo
128
Santiago
130
Name
2009 Rank
Leonardo
164
Ricardo
168
Fernando
178
Francisco
181
Mario
198
Sergio
224
Mateo
229
Marco
241
Julio
304
Emilio
311
Pablo
344
Gustavo
362
Rodrigo
373
Mauricio
383
Rocco
389
Hugo
409
Orlando
410
Romeo
411
Alfredo
423
Milo
451
Ernesto
461
Guillermo
501
Ways to Make This Trend Your Own
Options still off the radar: Carmelo, Cosmo (remember Kramer from Seinfeld?), Dario, Stasio, Viggo
Predictions: Hot Names
Okay, so you’ve read about the trends. But what other names might be taking off in the near future? Here’s some of what we think could be gaining ground.
GIRLS
It’s tempting to think that Miley is over, and the name did slide some sixty places this