Conventional wisdom tells us that parents hesitate to bestow unusual names on their sons. And there’s some statistical truth to that old chestnut: while about three-quarters of all children born in the US receive a Top 1000 name, the percentage is higher for boys. In 2007, more than 80% of our sons’ names charted; the same was true for just short of 69% of our daughters. A similar picture emerges for Top Ten names – the most popular choices change, but more boys consistently receive one of those few favorites.
So we anticipated an easy time crunching the Top 1000 list to arrive at a revised Top 100. As with the girls’ list – see our summary here or download our report from box.net, available in the sidebar – we grouped variant spellings (Katelyn, Caitlin, Kaitlyn, Catelyn, etc.), variant endings (Isabel, Isabelle and Isabella) and in some cases, nicknames and formal names (Grace and Gracie).
But it turned out that the boys were tricky for two major reasons.
First, parents do indeed favor the classics for their sons. But are Joe, Joseph, Joel, Joey and Jose five different names – or one? How about Nicholas, Colin and Cole? Alexander, Zander and Zane? In the first case, we chose to treat them as a cluster; in the second and third, we kept them separate. It’s a judgment call, and there are plenty of instances where we’re not entirely confident of our decision.
What this means is that parents appear more comfortable choosing a twist on a classic name than opting for an underused classic, at least when it comes to their sons. (Cordelia’s brother is probably William or Matthias, not Eleazar or Ignatius.) But spelling Jacob with a “k” doesn’t make it any less of a blockbuster, and it’s impossible to say how many of those Jacksons (and Jaxsons and Jaxsons and Jonathans and Johns) are answering to Jack.
Second, we sometimes talk about the Name Blob – HaileyKayleeKaylaJaylaJaydenHaydenHayleigh – that seems to offer infinite variations without sounding distinctive or fresh. In some ways, parents’ tendency to be conservative with sons’ monikers makes them more vulnerable to bestowing a Blob name to a boy. Jayson, Jaydon and Jaylon all make the Top 100, along with 17 additional spellings between them. And let’s not talk about the Aiden/Braydon/Caidhon/Haiden madness just yet.
Because parents dare more with girls, it becomes less likely that Kaitlyn, Kaylee and Makayla will share their exact name with a classmate. Will their names be confused? Of course – they’re terribly close. But in terms of numbers of syllables and possible endings, there’s greater variety.
The story of the Top Ten is clearly one of enduring classics, even if some variants (Antwan and Anthony) seem just barely related.
Here’s the official Social Security Administration Top Ten for 2007:
- Jacob
- Michael
- Ethan
- Joshua
- Daniel
- Christopher
- Anthony
- William
- Matthew
- Andrew
And our revised Top Ten:
- Joseph (Jose, Joel, Joe, Joey)
- Alexander (Alexzander, Alexandro, Alejandro, Alessandro, Alexis, Alec, Alex)
- Jacob (Jakob, Jake)
- Aiden (Aidan, Aedan, Aidyn, Aden, Adin, Aydin, Ayden, Aydan)
- Michael (Micheal, Mike, Miguel)
- Jayden (Jaydan, Jaydin, Jaydon, Jaden, Jadon, Jadyn, Jaeden, Jaiden, Jaidyn)
- Anthony (Antony, Antonio, Anton, Antoine, Antwan, Tony)
- Andrew (Andre, Andreas, Andres, Andy)
- Christopher (Cristopher, Cristofer, Kristopher, Chris)
- Ethan (Ethen)
The good news? It is much easier to choose a distinctive name for a son, simply by looking beyond the comfortable classics and trendy chart-toppers.
We’ll finish formatting our Top 100 and post it in the box.net tool in the sidebar within the next few days.
Emmy Jo, you may be right about Joel. I’d tried to consider sounds, not origins. I got into a jam with Maya/Myah/Mia on my girls’ list, too – *how* exactly is Myah pronounced?
I did keep some foreign variants out of the final list – Andreas, for example, is not in with Andrew. And I didn’t put Matthew and Matteo together. (Or I did, but then I took them back out. And put them back in. And then I did the hokey pokey …)
Anyway, I’ll look at it again as I revise – it’s also good to hear others’ perspectives before I finalize my version of the list.
Thanks for the list! I’m a teacher, and I definitely run across a lot of these names — the only one I haven’t taught is an Anthony. There ARE a lot of little Michaels, at least at my school, and they all go by Michael, as far as I know.
I think it’s a bit unfair to lump so quite so many names together. The variant spellings and nicknames (such as Kristofer, Christopher, and Chris) should be listed together, as should the names that have separate etymologies but identical sounds (Jayden = J + Aidan, while Jadon = biblical name). I don’t think foreign variants of names necessarily belong together, though — naming your son Andreas doesn’t destine him to be one of the zillion Drews (though I suppose he could call himself that if he chose). The grouping I object to most, though, is Joel and Joseph — they’re completely unrelated biblical names, they don’t have the same sound, and since Joel is so short, I doubt many would choose to go by Joe.
I almost fell out of my chair when I realized that Alexei was part of the #2 cluster! (Had I included the Xander/Zanders, he’d be #1.)
Don’t get me wrong – I hear all of the Alex variants constantly, so I knew it would be up there. But it’s always surprising to see it in numbers.
I think both the Joseph and Michael rankings are explained by the Latino factor – Jose and Miguel are very, very popular choices among Spanish-speaking families. I decided against considering them separate names after a (highly informal) survey suggested that Joses are likely to be known as Joe and Miguels as Mike, at least some of the time. It might be less true for the generation of kids in school right now, but for men in their 30s and up, it’s fairly common.
The youngest Michael I know is in his teens, and I believe it’s a family name. That’s the other trick to this – *so* many boys get family names that it has an impact on the rankings. I always wonder how many actually answer to the family name, and how many are M. Everett or C. Wyatt or CJ.
Hippy – I know many lil Michaels. *cough*wherenamesgotodie*cough* The youngest just turned 1.
Aidan is very interesting to me . . . I hear this name all the time and have always felt that it should rank higher than the SSA has it. Alexander is another one I’m not surprised to see.
But someone’s got to explain Michael to me . . . I haven’t met a Michael younger than college age in decades.
This list made my day! It’s great to see the variants grouped together and know how popular a name truly is.
And Another, I have never met a young Ethan either, and I meet new kids on a fairly regular basis. The only Ethan I know is in his twenties.
I had a feeling Aidan would be there. Also, since I have yet to meet another baby Ethan, I thought that maybe the name wasn’t as popular as I was told. I’m a little confused why someone would spell it Ethen, though. Meh. Oh well. Thanks for researching this.
Almost forgot! Completely unrelaed but since we were discussing this the other day: “
Wow, This must’ve been a huge undertaking! How fascinating to see the changes in top 10 when spelling is taken into consideration. Makes me want to avoid them like mad, or keep the clasics in the middle (not that I generally do but still). It makes me even gladder that the only “classic” I have in first place is Edward, which is rather out of fashion these days (145 and falling). Joseph in first suprises me but Aiden’s rise does not. Every year I expect to see him in the official top 10 (four year running now) but am surprised that he’s not. Your list puts him about where I thought he should be.
Statistics are not my strong suit so I completely appreciate your doing this! Thanks a million Verity!
Wow, This must’ve been a huge undertaking! How fascinating to see the changes in top 10 when spelling is taken into consideration. Makes me want to avoid them like mad, or keep the clasics in the middle (not that I generally do but still). It makes me even gladder that the only “classic” I have in first place is Edward, which is rather out of fashion these days (145 and falling). Joseph in first suprises me but Aiden’s rise does not. Every year I expect to see him in the official top 10 (four year running now) but am surprised that he’s not. Your list puts him about where I thought he should be.
Statistics are not my strong suit so I completely appreciate your doing this! Thanks a million Verity!
(hey did you see the tiny reprt that Universal bought the rights to make a “Sigmund & The Sea Monsters” flick from Sid & Marty Croft? HEre: https://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20080911/en_movies_eo/28440
It’s the first bulletted item on the page!