So What Were The Top Baby Names For 2005?
The answer to the question is; well, it depends on who you ask
and where you live. In the good old US of A, at the time of
writing (February 2006), the official figures were not yet
published. It therefore remains to be seen whether the top two
names of 2004, Jacob and Emily, will retain their positions as
the top baby names of 2005.
Americans retain a very traditional attitude to naming their
children and those two names have actually been at the top of
the official list since 1999, the first year that Jacob beat
Michael to the number one spot. Emily has been the most popular
baby girl name every year since 1996!
In fact, the top 10 most popular baby names have hardly changed
since the beginning of the decade. The full lists for 2004 were:
Boys: Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Ethan, Andrew, Daniel,
William, Joseph, Christopher.
Girls: Emily, Emma, Madison, Olivia, Hannah, Abigail, Isabella,
Ashley, Samantha, Elizabeth.
As you can see, these are 2 lists of very traditional names and
very much based around biblical names - particularly in the case
of the boys' names.
So what can we expect for 2005? Well, in the absence of official
figures, one indicator comes from a very popular baby name
website that has conducted a poll which suggests that in 2005,
Jacob and Emily will be beaten into second place by Aidan and
Emma. Whilst Emma has been fighting with Emily for top spot for
the last 3 years (and even sounds very similar), the sudden
popularity of Aidan is much more surprising, since it was at
number 40 in the official 2004 list. However, perhaps we
shouldn't read too much into this, since Aidan was at number 2
in the website's list of the same year. Obviously that website's
member's have a particular liking for Aidan!
It will be interesting to see how this site's top ten lists
compare with the official 2005 lists:
The site's top ten lists for 2005 were as follows:
Boys: Aidan, Jacob, Ethan, Nicholas, Matthew, Ryan, Tyler, Jack,
Joshua , Andrew. Girls: Emma, Emily, Madison, Kaitlyn, Sophia,
Isabella, Olivia, Hannah, Makayla, Ava.
While we wait, let's see what the most popular 2005 baby names
were in the UK.
Looking at the 2005 official girls' names list, we see that
Emily, which was the most popular name in the UK as well as the
US in 2003 and 2004, was replaced in 2005 by Jessica - a name
which has been steadily increasing in popularity in the UK since
the beginning of the century. However, in the boys' list, the
name Jack firmly held onto the top place it has held for the
whole of the last 11 years.
The full top ten lists in the UK for 2005 were:
Boys: Jack, Joshua, Thomas, James, Oliver, Daniel, Samuel,
William, Harry, Joseph Girls: Jessica, Emily, Sophie, Olivia,
Chloe, Ellie, Grace, Lucy, Charlotte, Katie.
Reflecting the general trends for more adventurous naming of
baby girls, rather than baby boys, it seems that Jack reigns
supreme, while there has been yet another change at the top of
the girls' list. However, the indications are that the
popularity of Jack is decreasing and it is a fair bet that it
will lose its top spot in 2006.
In the meantime, any bets on the most popular US baby names for
2005? It's fun to follow the trends and changes, but if you are
looking for a name for a soon-to-be or new baby, just remember
that you don't have to be a slave to tradition, or popularity.
Why not strike a blow for individuality - as long as you child
won't find it embarrassing in later life...