Baby Names List Released
Published December 12, 2006
It's that time of year again.
A time when we can reflect on new knowledge and celebrate new life. As the weather turns colder and the fireplaces burn warmer, we eagerly anticipate the coming days and weeks. This is a family time to be thankful for the many things family provides us with.
Like, our name, for instance.
And if you're an Ava or an Aiden, you're in a popular crowd lately.
According to Babynames and its million members, Aiden and Caden topped the list for the second straight year as the most popular baby boys' names in 2006. Ava and Abigail were tops for the young ladies. Ava has been on the climb since 1999 when Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillipe named their daughter in 1999, according to a press release. Hugh Jackman and Heather Locklear also have Ava's in their respective clans.
Neither John nor Michael, nor Susie nor Jane appeared in the top 20 for either gender. Top names are now Dylan, Chloe, Ethan, Bailey, Tristan and Cadence, making for a diverse list of preschoolers coming forward.
"Celebrity culture always has an influence on naming trends," says Jennifer Moss, founder and CEO of BabyNames, "but it seems like it has increased in recent years."
The popular Internet service traces all sorts of celebrity naming trends going back to the 90s when Will Smith's Jaden first started the craze, which has been attributed falsely to Brittney's Jayden.
- Baby Names List Released
- Published: December 12, 2006
- Type: News
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Culture: Family and Relationships, Culture: Society
- Writer: John Guilfoil
- John Guilfoil's BC Writer page
- John Guilfoil's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Since these are derived from our visitors "Favorite Name Lists" (not polls), these results predict the CURRENT and FUTURE naming trends of the coming years. The previous reader is correct: this list is not from the US Social Security office--which only reports on PAST U.S. births.
Jennifer Moss
BabyNames.com
I did think I was fairly clear on defining this as popularity, not scientific.
Wow I'm shocked. I've never even heard of aiden and caden as baby names before. What country is that from?
I was just sufing through some blogs and stumbled on your site.I found the imformation very intresting!! I would'nt have guessed in a thousand years that Aiden and Caden would top the list for boys names.Go's to show that things can change very quickly.Very surprised!!!
Keep in mind that these numbers from Baby Names are for amusement only, based on their membership reporting, and in fact are totally unrepresentative of the real top baby names in the United States, as measured by the U.S. Social Security Administration. The top boys' names in the U.S. for 2006 are Jacob, Michael and Joshua, and for girls, Emily, Emma and Madison.
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Please keep in mind though that these figures are totally skewed, in that they are only the result of a poll of visitors to a single website. According to those stats, "Aiden" and "Caden" were the top two boys' names for the second year in a row.
As a matter of fact, Aiden barely makes the top 50 list of the Social Security Administration's most popular names for 2005, and Caden is nowhere to be seen. You can see the actual, US top 50 names here.
While these figures from a single website may be fun to look at, they hardly reflect reality in the popularity of baby names in the U.S.