Most Popular Names

Jennifer, Meet Juliette

The Most popular names: The names favored are sturdy and family-orientated

The philosopher Henry David Thoreau once said, “He who can pronounce my name alright, he can call me, and is entitled to my love and service.” The name David means “the beloved one, and is a perennial favorite. Thoreau had little to complain about.

Comedian Jum Carrey’s middle name, on the other hand, is Eugene, a designation rife with nerdy implications. Carrey says, “I figured my parents called me that to keep me humble. You can never get too cool with a name like Eugene.”

The importance of a name is not lost on the image-makers in Hollywood. Would John Wayne have made it as Marion Morrison? John Denver as John Deutschendorf, Jr.? The oddly named (by Hollywood standards) Keir Dullea seemed destined for fame after his star turn in 2001: A Space Odyssey – and then went nowhere.

Mindful that oddly named children might not do well in a world where names have a powerful hold on how one is judged, parents have always selected names with great deliberation, ever mindful of the bounds of the times. In the ’90s, the pendulum was swinging… back to names with sturdy roots in the family tree or the Bible.

Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran, authors of the best-selling book, Beyond Jennifer and Jason (St. Martin’s Press, 1994), have deemed traditional names like Michael or Elizabeth “Volvo Names.” Like the car, they are durable and weather the passage of time well. Many of the names are family-oriented, with parents naming their children after their Aunt Julia, Uncle Patrick, or Grand-mother Alice.

The trend may have its roots in hard-nosed practicality, as a recent study by Albert Mehrabian and Marlena Piercy of the University of California at Los Angeles shows. When the two researchers asked interview subjects for their impressions of persons with conventionally spelled names like Diane and Joan, and compared those responses to those with less traditionally spelled versions of the same names (e.g., Dyan and Jone), they found that those with conventionally spelled names were viewed as more popular, cheerful, successful, and caring than their more exotically spelled namesakes. Men and women with conventionally spelled names were also considered more masculine and feminine than their more alphabetically challenged counterparts.

Most Popular Names

Favorites in Any Age

For the first time since Dwight Eisenhower was president, Rose has passed Ann, Marie, and Lynn to be the most popular middle name for girls in America. Below are some of the first names that have stayed popular over the last century:

For girls: Amanda, Elizabeth, Emily, Jennie, Rebecca, Rachel.

For boys: Alexander, Andrew, David, Jacob, John, William.

The Most Popular Names Today

According to the statistics from the government sources, the following names, ranked in order, are among today’s most frequently favored.

For girls today:

Ashley – Old English, ash tree meadow.

Jessica – Hebrew, the rich one.

Amanda – Latin, worthy of being loved.

Brittany – Latin, Britain.

Sarah – Hebrew, princess, royal status.

Samantha – Aramaic, a listener.

Megan – Celtic, the strong.

Emily – Teutonic, industrious, striving.

Kayla – Arabic, beloved.

Elisabeth – Hebrew, consecrated to God.

Stephanie – Greek, crown or gurland.

Nicole – Greek, the people’s victory.

Jennifer – French, pure white wave.

Lauren – Latin, laurel wreath.

Amber – Arabic, jewel.

Rachel – Hebrew, innocent as a lamb.

Chelsea – From the town of Chelsea.

Danielle – Hebrew, God is my judge.

Courtney – Old English, from the court.

Kelsey – Scandinavian, from ship island.

Rebecca – Hebrew, the captivator.

Shelby – Old English, from ledge estate.

Heather – Anglo-Saxon, flower of moors.

Hannah – Hebrew, full of grace.

Melissa – Greek, honeybee.

For boys today:

Michael – Hebrew, Like Unto the Lord.

Christopher – Greek, the Christ carrier.

Joshua – Hebrew, salvation in the Lord.

Matthew – Hebrew, gift of God.

Andrew – Greek, strong and manly.

Ryan – Gaelic, small king.

Jacob – Hebrew, the supplanter.

Nicholas – Greek, leader of the people.

Tyler – Anglo-Saxon, brick, tile maker.

James – Hebrew, see Jacob.

Daniel – Hebrew, the Lord is my judge.

Joseph – Hebrew, He shall add.

Justin – Latin, the just one.

David – Hebrew, beloved one.

John – Hebrew, God’s gracious gift.

Brandon – Anglo-Saxon, beacon on hill.

Robert – Teutonic, bright, shining fame.

Zachary – Hebrew, Lord has remembered.

Kyle – Gaelic, from the strait.

William – Teutonic, the strong guardian.

Cody – Old English, a cushion.

Anthony – Latin, on inestimable warth.

Jordan – Hebrew, the descending river.

Jonathan – Hebrew, gift of the Lord.

Alexander – Greek, protector of men.

If this survey had been done a hundred years ago:

For girls: Amanda, Annie, Carrie, Christina, Charlotte, Claire, Daisy, Elizabeth, Emily, Jennie, Julia, Katherine, Laura, Leah, Lillie, Louise, Lucy, Madeline, Maggie, Olivia, Polly, Rebecca, Rachel, Sara (h), Sophia.

For boys: Aaron, Adam, Alexander, Andrew, Anthony, Benjamin, Ben, Charles, David, Edward, Eric, Gregory, Harry, Henry, Jacob, Jesse, John, Jonah, Jonathan, Joshua, Luke, Max, Nathan, Noah, Patrick, Samuel, Seth, Timothy, William.