2015’s most popular baby names, just because
The 2015 most popular American baby name results are in! According to BabyCenter, the top name on each list is no real surprise – Sophia is number one for the sixth year running, while Jackson has snagged the coveted spot for the past three years.
“Our data shows that the top 10 list stays relatively stable for three to five years,” said BabyCenter Global Editor in Chief Linda Murray in a statement posted on the popular parenting website. “Sophia has been a powerhouse for six years, thanks to the variety of spelling options and the multi-ethnic, multi-language appeal of the name. I predict Jackson’s popularity will be more fleeting. We’ll likely have a new number-one boys’ name next year.”
Also present in the girls’ top 10? Other ending-in-A favorites like Emma (Rachel Green’s impact!) and Olivia, which held onto their second- and third-place spots, respectively, for the past four years. Madison is the only new addition to the girls’ top 10, edging out the similar Madelyn, which is now 13th. The name that jumped the most was Paisley (64 to 32!), and the new additions to the girls’ top 100 are Eleanor, Emery, Hazel (The Fault in Our Stars!), Isla, Jocelyn, Jordyn, Juliana, Kinsley, and Taylor.
The boys’ top 10 proved a little more stagnant with barely any changes, aside from Logan and Jacob switching to claim spots nine and 10, respectively (I guess there were more X-Men than Twilight fans in 2015?). Muhammed had the biggest jump from 2014, moving from 58 to 39, while Charlie had the biggest drop – from 62 to 81. New to the boys’ top 100 names are Damian, Ezra, and Mateo.
The BabyCenter statement also points out that factors seeming to have a big influence on 2015’s chosen baby names are things you might not expect, like Instagram filters (e.g., Valencia), royalty terms (such as Reign and Tiara), and celestial-related words, like Sunny and Jupiter.
The top-100 list was compiled based on data from 340,000 names from BabyCenter users who had babies in 2015. It should also be noted that alternate spellings (e.g., “Sofia,” “Jaxon”) were counted toward the list entries of their more popular spellings.
What will 2016 bring? Personally, I’m holding out for Harley to swoop in and take the number-one spot on both lists. Hey, it can work for a boy or a girl!
(Image via iStock)
