Usually when I examine names I focus on the top 1000 and beyond rather than just the top 10 and 100. Here’s some information on the top 1000 this year.
Entering:
- Adaline, Zelda, Alaia, Lennox, Royal, Amaris, Adilynn, Adley, Kalani, Briar, Kaya, Analia, Jayde, Romina, Nathalia, Aminah, Sarahi, Andi, Arden, Dalary, Aitana, Vienna, Esperanza, Kyndall, Veda, Meilani, Harmoni, Luz, Aislinn, Ellis, Elora, Heavenly, Kensington, Tinley, Ophelia, Charlize, Avalyn, Taya, Lyra, Noor, Sariyah, Giavanna, Rhea, Zaylee, Frankie, Princess, Alianna (47)
- Canaan, Otis, Shiloh, Denver, Immanuel, Jonael, Ignacio, Riaan, Musa, Ridge, Jaziel, Boone, Cairo, Kashton, Jabari, Avi, Sutton, Kamren, Huxley, Wilder, Louie, Achilles, Aarush, Robin, Yadiel, Yahya, Kye, Todd, Haiden, Brixton, Dangelo, Juelz, Bishop, Freddy, Malaki, Leroy, Briar, Antoine (38).
It’s harder to track down exiting names, but I think I have them all here:
- Isis, Temperance, Miley, Mercy, Patience, Cambria, Diamond, Renee, Lesly, Mercedes, Neveah, Pyper, Aanya, Rosalyn, Alaysia, Abrielle, Bryn, Carlie, Mckayla, Sherlyn, Kaleigh, Anniston, Anabel, Macey, Annabell, Janae, Alisa, Sonia, Dalia, Ayva, Mattie, Riya, Kylah, Antonia, Magdalena, Tamia, Samiyah, Natalya, Alyvia, Ayanna, Kaidence, Audriana, Abbigail, Taryn, Mollie, Danika, Cindy (47)
- Jair, Clinton, Teagan, Koen, Aidyn, Howard, Jaycob, Arnav, Foster, Tyree, Johnathon, Konner, Mike, Broderick, Brayson, Bridger, Giovanny, Efrain, Semaj, Makhi, Khalid, Jericho, Jovanni, Gino, Jayse, Yael, Randall, Ramiro, Tristian, Rylee, Eliezer, Darien, Ayan, Maddux, Rylen, Leif, Menachem, Kale (38)
Comments:
- Arden hasn’t been in the top 1000 as a girls’ name since 1931! I hesitate to call it old-fashioned because it charted within this parameter only for three years, but it’s kind of fitting with the reentries of Zelda and Adaline as a sort of early 20th-century glamour name.
- Veda was last in the top 1000 in 1960.
- Aislinn – Irish Gaelic-spelling alert! Irish and Scottish names are popular all the time, but it’s rare to see a spelling that hasn’t been Anglicized within the top 1000! This is the first time Aislinn has charted, but phonetic Ashlyn and Ashlynn have charted since the 1986 and 1992, respectively – possibly as variants of Ashley, but you never know. Interesting how Aislinn enters the list while Ashlyn and Ashlynn are declining!
- Ellis ranked immediately after America. Patriotic baby names, much?
- Elora – This name has never been in the top 1000, but sounds very old. If you look into the extended data, this was used occasionally around WWI and the 1920s (another flapper-era name, hmm?), but usage has only picked up since the 80s.
- Kensington – This has never been popular before, but I did notice that Windsor is picking up as a name in the extended data. I guess palace names are a new trend?
- I think the song “Ophelia” was released in 2016, which is only going to make the name more popular.
- Adaline is resurrected because of last year’s movie Age of Adaline. I’ve noticed that Adeline and other spellings also received large boosts from the movie.
- I predicted Achilles would enter, and it did!
- I wonder what’s fueling the popularity of Canaan? Old Testament names are trendy, but I’m kind of surprised there were enough of these to enter the top 1000.
- Jonael – I thought this was possibly another rare Bible name, but instead searches turned up people named Jonael Santiago (Telemundo celebrity?) and Jonael Schickler (Swiss philosopher). I’m guessing the former is the reason for popularity.
- Jaziel appears to be a variant of Jaaziel, which is actually a Biblical name.
- Isis – We all know why this one’s out. I’ll write a more extensive post about this later.
- Temperance, Patience, and Mercy – I had predicted that Honesty would make her debut, but I guess this was a bad year for virtue names.
- One would think that with all the Marvel names circulating that Howard Stark might make his name more popular, but I guess not…
- Efrain fell out, but Ephraim is even more popular than last year
- I predicted Clinton would fall out even though usage increased between 2013 and 2014. I think it will decline further this year.
What do you think of these names? If you’re interested in seeing the entire top 1000 for 2015 (and 2014), you can read them here and here.
The Well-Informed Namer 