Popular Baby Names for 2012 and Top Names From 2011

For youngsters born in 2012 (at least so far) – or any year for that matter – the first big decision that could affect the rest of a child’s life is what name will he or she be given? For parents the name choice ranged from Melissa to Kay’lyn among the girls and from Ezekiel to Jayden among the boys.

For the folks that track these kinds of things, apparently child names that start with the letters “K” and “A” are popular (think of Karis, Kyren and Kalylah). These baby name trackers also suggest that various geographic regions are either more adventurous or more traditional in picking baby names. For example, they say, the mountain West and the deep South regions of the United States are more creative in selecting names.

Spelling And Punctuation Choices

Sometimes it’s not the name that is creative, but the way it is spelled or sounds. Christian parents are increasingly using Old-Testament names that used to sound Jewish, says one expert. For example, in 2010, 236 American boys were named Hezekiah, the name of the 14th king of Judah. The baby name Shekinah is another example of an obscure Biblical reference. The word is a Hebrew term referring to the divine presence.

The first baby born in the U.S. in 2012 was a little girl named Jenna Carly Tuedla. Other name trends to look for in 2012, say experts include the use of punctuation (such as Kay’lyn).

Another small-but-growing trend is the use of firearms-inspired names like Colt, Remington and Gauge. This trend may be in part because parents are looking for strong, macho-sounding names for boys as more and more boy names get used for girls.

The U.S. Social Security Administration happens to keep track of baby names in the U.S. That’s because in 1997 the agency began offering lists of baby names for each year going back to 1880. The names were collected as parents began providing the information when they applied for a social security number for their child.

Top 10 Names In 2011

For 2011, the SSA says the top 10 baby names were:

Boys/Girls

1.     Jacob/Sophia

2.      Mason/Isabella

3.      William/Emma

4.      Jayden/Olivia

5.      Noah/Ava

6.      Michael/Emily

7.      Ethan/Abigail

8.      Alexander/Madison

9.      Aiden/Mia

10.    Daniel/Chloe

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