Did you welcome a little Charlotte or Amelia (or Emilia) into the world in 2014? Or a Liam or Noah, perhaps? If so, your little 2014 bundle of joy shares a name with lots of other kids his or her age. Those names are the top two girls and boys names in the United States for the year, according to website BabyNames.

Each year, BabyNames publishes a list of the top 100 names for girls and boys christened the previous year. The website gets its data from Social Security Administration records, which also publishes a list of baby names, even listing popularity by state. To make the Social Security list, a name (or its variations) must be given to at least five children in one calendar year.

2014 Top 10 Lists

For girls:

  • Charlotte stayed at #1 from 2013.
  • Amelia / Emilia held steady at #2.
  • Aria / Arya, at #3, gained in popularity from 2013.
  • Olivia holds place #4 but that’s a drop from her 2013 rank.
  • Violet, #5, rose in favor.
  • Ava, #6, lost in favor.
  • Sophia / Sofia held the #7 spot for 2013 and 2014.
  • Emma ranked #8 and grew in favor.
  • Scarlett / Scarlet, at #9, fell a bit in favor.
  • Nora / Norah rose to the #10 spot.

For boys:

  • Liam, Noah, and Oliver kept their spots at #1, #2, and #3, respectively, for 2013 and 2014.
  • Ethan, #4, gained on them, though.
  • Asher, #5, held his own.
  • Benjamin, #6, grew in popularity.
  • Henry, #7, grew in favor, too.
  • Owen, #8, lost a little ground.
  • Caleb / Kaleb, #9, gained a little ground.
  • Jackson / Jaxon held the #10 spot for 2013 and 2014.

Nameberry, another website devoted to baby names, uses the Social Security list, too. This website reports there were 1,393 completely new baby names delivered in 2014 and its Top 12 of the most inventive (“craziest of the crazy,” according to Nameberry) are:

  • Billion — Cash and Rich are time-honored traditional wealth-related names but 11 boys are now named Million, and babies of both genders were christened Amillion, and there were at least 5 little Billions.
  • Common — Perhaps in honor of the hiphop artist whose own birth certificate identifies him as Lonnie Rashid Lynn?
  • Dagger — Will these five little boys grow up to be violent or protective? On a similar vein, there were five little Renegades (boys), six Kalibers (boys), six Buluts (boys), and seven Rockets (girls) born in 2014.
  • Lay — Seven girls went home from the hospital with this new name.
  • Londynne — This variation on the city name was used at least five times in 2014. London holds a years-long spot in the Top 100 for girls’ names (Londyn is #154) and is #611 for boys. Other geographically inspired names with unique spellings that first appeared in 2014 include Jerzei, Millan, and Sicilee.
  • Mickinley — Five girls were honored with this presidentially inspired but creatively spelled name and five more girls were named Kennydi.
  • Payzley — Perhaps a fresh approach to the name Paisley, for boys and girls?
  • Royaltee — Any doubt the little royal Cambridges — Prince George and Princess Charlotte — influenced this name? Also reigning anew were at least five babies named Royalti, Royel, Kinganthony, Kingmichael, and Princecharles.
  • Ruckus — Eight little Ruckuses are rocking the world these days.
  • Sadman — Let’s hope these little boys grow up vibrant with joy and happiness. They’ll be going to school with seven girls named Excel and five Legendary boys. The playground pecking order hints at being fierce.
  • Swastik — Seven baby boys born in 2014 bear this name as do five boys named Nazih. It must be noted that Nazih is the correct spelling of this traditional Arabic name which means honesty and virtue.
  • Wimberley — A variation of the traditional name Kimberley or a tribute to the tiny little tourist town in Texas?

One of the most fun aspects of having a baby is choosing a name. What about yours? Unique? Traditional? Inventively spelled? Presidential? Historical? Regal . . . ?


Sources:

  1. "Most Popular Baby Names of 2014." BabyNames. BabyNames.com LLC, 2015. Web. 9 June 2015.
  2. "Beyond the Top 1000 Names." Social Security. Social Security Administration, 2015. Web. 9 June 2015.
  3. "The Craziest New Baby Names / Oh No They Didn't!" Nameberry. Nameberry, LLC, 21 May 2015. Web. 9 June 2015.

 

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