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Bye , bye , Isabella , there ’s a new female child on the block . For the first year , Sophia is the most popular baby name for girls , agree to the Social Security Administration ’s most democratic child names of 2011 , released today ( May 14 ) .
Jacob remains No . 1 for boys , holding this top smirch for the 13th year . Only one new name blast onto the top-10 list : Mason jumped to the second spot , substitute Anthony . Until 2010 , when it hit No . 12 , Mason had never crack up the top 25 forbaby boys ' epithet .
Parents are always on the lookout for something new when it comes to baby names, says one baby-name expert.
The 2011top 10 baby namesfor boy :
Top 10 girls ' baby names :
[ See top 50 most popular baby name of 2011 ]
The " big story " in the sister - naming public is not that Sophia agitate out Isabella for the No . 1 slur ; rather , according to baby - name expert and statistician Laura Wattenberg who runs babynamewizard.com , " we ’ve now had four dissimilar girl ' names [ in the top one-armed bandit ] in the last five years . That is totally unprecedented . " Wattenberg added , " Top girls ' names are anything but consistent . "
Why ? " parent are terrified their Kyd ' names will become too democratic , " append Wattenberg , author of " The Baby Name Wizard : A witching Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby " ( Three Rivers Press , 2005 ) . " Everybodywants their kids to brook out . Nobody is worried about them fitting in . "
As such , they ’re incessantly on the observation post for something new , say Wattenberg , calling this phenomenon a inverse arm airstream , since " nobody wants to be No . 1 . "
Not only is conformity out andindividuality in with baby names , but compared with the fifties — which Wattenberg view the peak of baby - naming conformation — we now have stats at our fingertips . " You did n’t used to be able-bodied to type a name into Google and find out how many people have that first and last name jazz band , " she said .
While anyone could likely get along up with a " dissimilar " name , the moniker donned a kid must voice sound . That ’s where a trouble comes in , Wattenberg said .
" We look for gens that sound upright to us , and that feel like such a personal decision , but your taste is just like your neighbors ' , " she said . " We ’re all do-or-die to be different but we have the same taste , [ so ] we end up with all these tiny variations on the same name . " [ Top 12 Distinct Moms in History ]
The same goes forcelebrity names , if parents are n’t " ready for " that identify sound , the name is n’t going to fly . " All the celebrity in the world is n’t going to make the wrong name hot . It has to be the name parent are already quick for , " she suppose .
Did the Kardashians have anything to do with Mason ’s upgrade to fame ? Some have suggested , say Social Security officials , that the name of world - television set star Kourtney Kardashian ’s son may have launched Mason into its No . 2 slot .
Wattenberg does n’t agree , suggesting the name has a long vowel sound sound , just like its predecessor Jacob . In fact , the top five boys’baby nameshave this foresightful - vowel pattern . " That ’s just the sound that America was waiting for , " Wattenberg said .
Some names use up major leaps in popularity in 2011 . Brantley took the self-aggrandizing jump in popularity for boys ' names , moving from slur 736 to 320 . Arguably , the SSA notes , its popularity may stem from University of Florida quarterback John Brantley ; or perhaps the juice it require came from country singer Brantley Gilbert .
consider the fact that 2010 ’s biggest boy - name jumper was Bentley , Wattenberg suggests a state - singer phenomenon . Essentially , both public figure were once thought of as " crack - preppy , close sounding names , " she say . Country musicians with the same name may be vary how America views these names . " We have this hot fresh class of preppy - turned - puncher , " Wattenberg explained .
For girls , Briella took the biggest jump in the top 500 , move up from 891 to 497 .
And Elvis is back … in the top 1,000 for popular boy names . " Last class I was all shook up when Elvis drop right smart down below the top 1,000 , but Elvis is back into the promised nation of the top 1,000 , and that ’s all correct , " Michael J. Astrue , Social Security commissioner , said in a statement . He ’s now 904 on the listing .
The tilt did n’t stick out out results from another baby - name discipline , this one based onpage - views for babe nameson the internet site Nameberry . That study predicts Pippa will take a top spot in 2012 , toss off up as the 35th most - search name on Nameberry . Pippa did n’t make the top 50 for 2011 .
That did n’t storm Wattenberg , who said search traffic does n’t equal with popularity in the causa of baby name .
