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[Facts] Social Security list, spellings combined, girls, top 300
Here is my 2008 top 300 for girls. I can never get myself to combine Alivia and Alivya with Olivia, because I personally pronounce a very defnite "Oh" in Olivia, but if you would do that Olivia becomes 18,927 and rises two places in the ranks. :)Sophia 21,783
Isabella 20,398
Emily 19,807
Madison 19,563
Emma 18,587
Ava 17,122
Olivia 16,845
Abigail 16,108
Hailey 15,353
Madeline 14,626
Kaitlyn 14,256
Chloe 13,682
Addison 13,404
Brianna 13,047
Sarah 12,449
Elizabeth 12,389
Natalie 12,350
Kaylee 12,034
Lily 11,326
Samantha 11,067
Riley 10,944
Hannah 10,637
Ashley 10,501
Allison 10,464
Makayla 10,408
Jasmine 10,362
Mia 10,336
Alyssa 10,253
Alexis 10,009
Kylie 9,625
Katherine 9,310
Ella 9,242
Arianna 9,109
Anna 9,072
Grace 8,886
Maya 8,833
Peyton 8,820
Mackenzie 8,731
Zoe 8,603
Gabriella 8,533
Taylor 8,266
Layla 7,836
Isabelle 7,628
Savannah 7,483
Lillian 7,447
Aubrey 7,382
Kayla 7,337
Brooklyn 7,057
Lauren 7,042
Leah 7,034
Victoria 7,029
Aaliyah 6,937
Jocelyn 6,586
Avery 6,408
Nevaeh 6,257
Destiny 6,134
Sydney 6,078
Julia 5,545
Jordan 5,456
Audrey 5,398
Evelyn 5,390
Morgan 5,284
Bailey 5,214
Alexa 5,163
Brooke 5,127
Keira 5,113
Carly 5,078
Jada 5,017
Claire 4,990
Kimberly 4,764
Jessica 4,687
Rachel 4,653
Adriana 4,574
Alexandra 4,560
Maria 4,512
Jayden 4,450
Melanie 4,406
Mariah 4,368
Camila 4,346
Amelia 4,291
Kaelyn 4,280
Angelina 4,243
Trinity 4,226
Andrea 4,219
Valeria 4,166
Liliana 4,147
Juliana 4,144
Gianna 4,106
Lila 4,099
Megan 4,058
Sophie 4,014
Vanessa 3,996
Gabrielle 3,976
Natalia 3,800
Rebecca 3,783
Jennifer 3,742
Camryn 3,697
Molly 3,694
Miley 3,684
Charlotte 3,623
Paige 3,608
Autumn 3,601
Cadence 3,581
Stephanie 3,579
Faith 3,554
Ruby 3,508
Marley 3,503
Cheyenne 3,499
Caroline 3,492
Genesis 3,490
Kennedy 3,469
Ashlyn 3,432
Mary 3,428
Gracie 3,391
Jaelyn 3,379
Michelle 3,289
Mckenna 3,288
Jayla 3,244
Nicole 3,240
Jenna 3,201
Diana 3,186
Reagan 3,168
Sadie 3,119
Jacqueline 3,095
Serenity 3,075
Lucy 3,029
Aniyah 3,028
Leslie 2,990
Alana 2,977
Giselle 2,930
Eva 2,925
Amy 2,888
Naomi 2,862
Daniela 2,852
Lydia 2,832
Annabelle 2,829
Macy 2,812
Valerie 2,788
Christina 2,775
Bella 2,747
London 2,740
Alaina 2,653
Hayden 2,641
Kendall 2,634
Katie 2,622
Jade 2,611
Amaya 2,568
Angela 2,504
Skylar 2,486
Melissa 2,482
Eliana 2,460
Amanda 2,407
Kate 2,390
Danielle 2,353
Sienna 2,312
Alicia 2,309
Alina 2,290
Crystal 2,280
Elena 2,276
Sierra 2,237
Jillian 2,219
Reese 2,216
Nora 2,193
Marissa 2,151
Allie 2,148
Shelby 2,125
Erica 2,121
Cassidy 2,107
Alivia 2,082
Angel 2,077
Scarlett 2,073
Kelsey 2,069
Daisy 2,058
Abby 2,055
Lindsey 2,055
Miranda 2,042
Erin 2,038
Amber 2,033
Mariana 2,008
Kara 1,984
Ellie 1,969
Elise 1,961
Karla 1,933
Summer 1,922
Piper 1,892
Callie 1,879
Leila 1,855
Margaret 1,827
Janiyah 1,819
Karen 1,805
Ximena 1,801
Violet 1,797
Sabrina 1,791
Stella 1,791
Alexandria 1,781
Malia 1,765
Cassandra 1,745
Karina 1,735
Delilah 1,721
Lexi 1,716
Ayanna 1,653
Alondra 1,640
Tessa 1,637
Cecilia 1,629
Bianca 1,628
Clara 1,622
Vivian 1,616
Danica 1,611
Josephine 1,607
Delaney 1,602
Yasmin 1,595
Alexia 1,593
Maggie 1,585
Laura 1,577
Aileen 1,574
Jazlyn 1,569
Ariel 1,534
Nadia 1,523
Chelsea 1,499
Hope 1,488
Eden 1,452
Rihanna 1,447
Kendra 1,434
Heidi 1,430
Adalyn 1,427
Kyra 1,425
Kimora 1,422
Kiara 1,412
Reyna 1,410
Marely 1,404
Lola 1,394
Kyla 1,393
Kelly 1,392
Fatima 1,383
Tiffany 1,354
Cali 1,346
Mallory 1,338
Esmeralda 1,326
Alejandra 1,325
Annika 1,322
Eleanor 1,321
Angelica 1,319
Veronica 1,312
Kaya 1,300
Carmen 1,296
Jamie 1,293
Valentina 1,276
Dakota 1,262
Courtney 1,245
Esther 1,235
Heaven 1,222
Halle 1,210
Leilani 1,210
Nina 1,208
Jaslene 1,207
Melody 1,206
Brittany 1,194
Joanna 1,181
Denise 1,166
Aurora 1,158
Saniya 1,157
Emerson 1,147
Josie 1,117
Nyla 1,117
Amiyah 1,112
Guadalupe 1,109
Casey 1,108
Harper 1,108
Ivy 1,106
Desiree 1,104
Amira 1,097
Camille 1,094
Dulce 1,087
Lucia 1,082
Emilia 1,069
Miriam 1,068
Lacey 1,065
Cynthia 1,060
Georgia 1,056
Harmony 1,053
Monica 1,049
Bethany 1,045
Teagan 1,034
Cora 1,033
Brynn 1,027
Ciara 1,022
Genevieve 1,022
Alice 1,013
Lena 1,011
Eliza 1,006
Tatiana 1,006
April 997
Julie 988
Presley 973
Brielle 971
Julissa 971
Jayleen 968
Angie 965
Laney 965
Iris 960
Anne 956
Brenda 956
Hazel 955
Rose 955
Shayla 952
Fiona 951
Phoebe 948
Kristen 944
Nayeli 944
Paola 944
Selena 938
Audrina 929
Kiana 929
Carolina 918
Brylee 913
Liana 909
Penelope 907
Anastasia 902
Adeline 900
Ruth 899

This message was edited 5/9/2009, 12:11 PM

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Big thank-you and queryThis, and the boy list, are a wonderful resource, and I'm delighted that you've put (most!) variants together. Very useful!Here in South Africa no such lists appear, so I don't know how they are compiled. In the case of, say, Taylor Elizabeth Surname (and I'm sure she exists), do they count both the first name and the middle name, or just the first name? Just looking at the top of the list, I see a mixture of the classic and the Kaylee, and the same on the boy list, so it would be interesting to know if parents are giving a mixture to an individual daughter or son, or if some families take the trendy and others the traditional route. How can the SSA know which name the child will be called by, if they only use the first in line? There are cases - many of them here - of children bearing the name of their grandparent in the first position but being known by their second given name; perhaps not enough to be statistically significant, though that's a guess.
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They only use the first name on the birth certificate to create the statistics. Otherwise what are often called the "stock middle names" for girls like Anne, Lynn, Marie, Rose, Renee, etc. would be much higher on the list than they are.And of course the SSA has no idea what name the child will be called by, as no such information appears on US birth certificates. (I was amazed when someone mentioned on this or another site a while back that in some European countries there is a way to designate it when the child's first name will not be their "calling name." Of course what then happens if later in life that child decides to go by a different one of his or her legal names?) So statistics from the USA, especially for boys, are going to look more "conservative" than they would if there were a way to know which of these boys had a family name in first position but the parents were planning on calling them by a middle name. There just isn't any way around that problem at the moment except to acknowledge that it exists. So American stats are of "legal first names", which may not be the same thing as what the kids are actually being called in everyday life.

This message was edited 6/8/2009, 10:24 AM

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WowI had NO idea that they just count the first name and not the middle names! That explains a lot! Thank you:-)
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"Of course what then happens if later in life that child decides to go by a different one of his or her legal names?"Exactly the same that if later in life a child doesn't like their legal name or names: she/he need to start a bureaucratic process to change it (in this case, to change the name marked as "calling name"). That can be easy or not depending on every country laws.
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thanks!I've been waiting for this post =)Would it be convenient for you to also list what spellings were combined for each name?
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I'm not sure I have time to do that for the entire list I posted. Remember that I can only add in things that were among the top 1000 on the SSA list. But for the top ten girls' names on my list, here are the other spellings I added in: Sophia: SofiaIsabella: Isabela, IzabellaEmily: Emely, Emilee, Emilie, EmmaleeMadison: Maddison, Madisyn, MadysonEmma: noneAva: AvahOlivia: none for original figure; for exception Alivia & AlyviaAbigail: Abagail, Abbigail, AbigayleHailey: Hailee, Hailie, Haleigh, Haley, Haylee, Hayley, HaylieMadeline: Madalyn, Madalynn, Madeleine, Madelyn, Madelynn, Madilyn, Madilynn
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I did this exercise as well - I love to do it every year. I also combined Madeline with all the other variants, sparking some discussion on my board as to the pronunciation in the US of Madeline.Do you also put Caroline and Carolyn together?
Do you put Devon in with Devin? How about Miya - Mia or Maya? And what of Ciara - do you figure Americans are saying it like Kiera or Sierra? :)I did throw in Alivia and Alyvia with Olivia. I think the intention of those namers is clear!
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I do not combine Caroline and Carolyn, because I think most Americans do pronounce them differently. However, in my experience most Americans do use the "lynn" pronunciation for the last syllable of Madeline. I put Devon in with Devin because I think that's what the majority do, even though I know many African-Americans will pronounce Devon as "deh-VON". the -iya and -iyah names are hard at the moment. I personally put Miya with Mia, and Miah with Maya, and hope that evens things out. :)I keep Ciara separate from both Sierra and Kiera, because I think that's one where it's impossible to estimate how many should go where. I also keep Kyra separate from Kiera, because in my experience most Kyras have pronounced their names with the "eye" sound in the first syllable, in spite of the opposite example of Kyra Sedgwick. As I said already, I don't throw in Alivia and Alivya with Olivia, but a provide a note about that at the top of my list explaining what the result would be if you combined those.
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