Overview of the Top 100 Baby Names, 2016 Edition

Now that I’m finally getting a chance to examine the new data more thoroughly, here is an overview of the Top 100 baby names, 2016 edition!  I’m so happy they’re here. 🙂

New to the top 100:

• Adeline, Luna, Kinsley, Elena, Eliana, Willow
• Bryson, Leonardo, Greyson, Roman

Left the top 100:

• Ashley, Isabelle, Annabelle, Alexandra, Alyssa, Alexis
• Nathaniel, Kayden, Ryder, Blake

Apparently due to data adjustment, Khloe is not only out of the 2016 top 100 but for 2015 too.  I predicted she’d leave, but not like this!

Also, that’s a lot of ‘A’ names that just left.  Every generation seems to have its trendy letters; did we just witness the start of another ‘A’ decline?   

Positive rank changes give us good sense of a name’s popularity, which is a comparative measure.  Here are the names that rose in the charts via rank:

• Bryson (+40; new), Mateo (+26), Leo (+17), Lincoln (+16), Theodore (+16), Greyson (+15; new), Owen (+13), Easton (+12), Asher (+11) Sebastian (+11), Grayson (+10), Carson (+8), Leonardo (+ 8; new), Elias (+7), Ezra (+7), Henry (+7), Oliver (+7), Julian (+6), Nolan (+6), Benjamin (+4), Hudson (+4), Roman (+4; new), Aaron (+3), Jaxon (+3), Jose (+3), Thomas (+3), Elijah (+2), Isaiah (+2), Jack (+2), James (+2), Jason (+2), Jaxson (+2), Josiah (+2), Lucas (+2), Samuel (+2) William (+2), Xavier (+2), Connor (+1), Eli (+1), Joseph (+1), Michael (+1), Robert (+1), Wyatt (+1)
• Adeline (+72; new), Luna (+33; new), Kinsley (+27; new), Eleanor (+19), Quinn (+18), Willow (+16; new), Riley (+13), Ruby (+12), Elena (+12; new), Hazel (+11), Camila (+10), Alice (+10), Claire (+9), Eliana (+9; new), Penelope (+7), Genesis (+7), Aria (+6), Stella (+6), Caroline (+6), Nora (+5), Mila (+5), Scarlett (+4), Ellie (+4), Maya (+4), Autumn (+4), Gianna (+4), Evelyn (+3), Violet (+3), Charlotte (+2), Eva (+2), Naomi (+2), Reagan (+2), Ava (+1), Amelia (+1), Ella (+1), Lily (+1), Skylar (+1), Sarah (+1), Cora (+1), Julia (+1)

Here are the negative rank changes, or the names that became less popular in 2016:

• Brandon (-16), Parker (-15), Chase (-12), Gavin (-10), Kevin (-10), Tyler – 10, Colton – 9, Jonathan (-8), Jayden (-7), Caleb (-7), Landon (-7), Jordan (-7), Bentley (-7), Angel (-6), Anthony (-5), Dylan (-5), Nathan (-5), Ayden (-5), Ethan (-4), Logan (-4), Andrew (-4), Christopher (-4), Hunter (-4), Jeremiah (-4), Dominic (-4), Austin (-4), Jacob (-3), Aiden (-3), Alexander (-3), Gabriel (-3), Christian (-3), Brayden (-3), Sawyer (-3), Carter (-2), John (-2), Joshua (-2), Adrian (-2), Evan (-2), Adam (-2), Ian (-2), Cooper (-2), Zachary (-2), Mason (-1), Daniel (-1), David (-1), Luke (-1), Ryan (-1), Charles (-1), Cameron (-1), Nicholas (-1), Jace (-1)
• Alexa (-18), Kylie (-17), Brianna (-16), Arianna (-13), Mackenzie (-12), Taylor (-12), Allison (-10), Faith (-9), Kaylee (-9), Peyton (-9), Ariana (-8), Sadie (-8), Anna (-7), Gabriella (-7), Katherine (-6), Aaliyah (-5), Addison (-5), Aubree (-5), Hannah (-5), Nevaeh (-5), Aubrey (-4), Bella (-4), Hailey (-4), Madison (-4), Natalie (-4), Samantha (-4), Brooklyn (-3), Chloe (-3), Madelyn (-3), Zoey (-3), Audrey (-2), Kennedy (-2), Lillian (-2), Zoe (-2), Abigail (-1), Clara (-1), Emily (-1), Leah (-1), Madeline (-1), Melanie (-1), Paisley (-1), Serenity (-1), Sophia (-1), Victoria (-1)

No rank change.  Consider these names steady (or a safe choice) for now:

• Noah, Liam, Matthew, Jackson, Isaac, Levi
• Emma, Olivia, Isabella, Mia, Harper, Elizabeth, Sofia, Avery, Grace, Layla, Savannah, Lucy, Piper, Lydia, Vivian

Next, I’ve looked at the raw usage for names.  Increasingly, I view raw usage as one way to measure how trendy names are.  It may also reflect a declining birth rate or diversifying pool of names.  To sort out attrition and distinguish the names that are indeed very trendy or not at all, I’m listing the names that went up or down at least 500 uses.

Biggest gains (+500 or more) in decreasing order:

• Adeline*, Charlotte, Riley, Ava, Amelia, Luna*, Camila, Evelyn, Eleanor, Scarlett, Kinsley*, Quinn, Aria
• Mateo, Oliver, Bryson*, Lincoln, Benjamin, Grayson, Theodore, Greyson, Leo, Owen, Sebastian, Lucas, Ezra

The asterisk (*) indicates that a name is new to the top 100.

Biggest losses (500 or more) in decreasing order:

• Sophia, Alexa, Madison, Emma, Aubrey, Isabella, Emily, Kylie, Ashley (left top 100), Abigail, Arianna, Avery, Allison, Alyssa (left top 100), Kaylee, Sofia, Zoey, Mia
• Logan, Jacob, Jayden, Mason, Ethan, Aiden, Alexander, Brandon, Blake (left top 100), Landon, Caleb, Gavin, Anthony, Christopher, Andrew, David, Parker, Colton, Hunter, Gabriel, Jonathan, Kevin, Tyler, Jordan, Nathan, Joshua, Carter, Daniel, Joseph, Dylan, Jackson, Christian, Noah, Brayden, Angel, Chase, Nicholas

Comments on the falling names:

• The huge fall of the names Alexa, Alexis, and Alexander probably relates to the confusion surrounding the Alexa device.
  
• When names like Emma or Sophia lose a lot of usage, it doesn’t always mean much rank-wise.  This year a lot of names grew more popular only because all the names around them experienced comparatively greater usage loss.
• A huge usage drop is more significant for Brandon at the bottom of the top 100 than the #1 name Noah. 

Questions?  Favorite names?  Are you surprised by anything?  Let me know in the comments!