New Name Takes Top Spot on 2009 Most Popular Baby Names List

Where does your favorite baby name come into play on the 2009 most popular baby names list from the Social Security Administration?

The Scoop

Move over Emma, there's a new girl in town. According to the Social Security Administration's annual list of top baby names, Isabella is the most commonly chosen name for girls in the US, followed by the now second place Emma. Also edging into the top three is Olivia, up from fourth place in 2008.

For boys, it's still all about Jacob, with the venerable name holding onto the top boy name for the 11th year in a row. The 2009 Social Security records show Ethan in the number two spot, followed by the ever-popular Michael in third place. New to the top 10 for boys are Jayden and Noah—for girls, Mia makes her debut at number 10.

Here are the top 10 boys and girls names for 2009:

Girls

1. Isabella
2. Emma
3. Olivia
4. Sophia
5. Ava
6. Emily
7. Madison
8. Abigail
9. Chloe
10. Mia

Boys

1. Jacob
2. Ethan
3. Michael
4. Alexander
5. William
6. Joshua
7. Daniel
8. Jayden
9. Noah
10. Anthony

To see all the top baby names, go to Social Security's website www.socialsecurity.gov.

The Name Game

No doubt related to the popularity of the First Family, Maliyah is this year's winner for biggest jump in naming rank, rising from 638 in 2008 to 296 in the 2009 poll. Malia, the spelling used by the First Daughter, is also one of the top 10 fastest risers among girl's names. Isla, the name of popular actress Isla Fisher, was the second fastest riser among girls, jumping from 619 in 2008 to 346 in 2009.

On the boy's side, Cullen had the biggest increase, likely related to parents' fondness for the popular character Edward Cullen in the Twilight novels and movies. King came in as the number three top mover for boys. And speaking of the First Family, with 69 baby Baracks born in 2009, Barack continues to move up the list to number 1,993 from 2,424 in 2008, and 12,535 in 2007, but still lags well behind the First Dog—boy's name Bo came in at 782.

This year's stats also showed many naming patterns of recent years continued. Religious names remain popular picks, including the girl names Heaven at number 275 and Nevaeh (Heaven spelled backwards) at 34. For boys, Messiah was number 663. Also noted was that 3.7 percent of the Top 1000 boy names rhymed with the word "maiden" and names associated with cities, states, or countries were popular, particularly for girls.

Slipping in popularity this past year was Marely—the girl's name had the third largest increase in 2008, but sank from number 334 to 851 in 2009. Mylee had the second biggest drop for girls, with alternate spelling Miley also dropping in popularity, from 128 to 189. Other celebrity-inspired names also took a dive, with Lindsay dropping from number 381 to 524 and the boy's name Jonas sinking from 274 to 379. Brett and Alvin were also among the boy's names with the largest decreases.