Had a baby boy recently? Thought you’d be unique and name your child Barack after the new president?
You wouldn’t be alone.
The Social Security Administration released its Most Popular Baby Name list Friday, looking at the top 1,000 names for newborn boys and girls in the past year. While Barack didn’t make the top 1,000, it did enjoy a massive surge in popularity, jumping from 12,535 in 2007 to 2,409 in 2008.
SSA also noted many unusual names making the list for the first time: Isla (623), Mareli (718), Dayami (750), Nylah (821) and Jazlene (831) for baby girls, and Aaden (343), Chace (655), Marley (764), Kash (779), Kymani (836), Ishaan (851), Jadiel (874) and Urijah (889) for baby boys.
Celebrities also boosted some oddball names up the list. Beckham, as in British soccer star/tabloid staple David Beckham, came in at 893 for its first appearance on the list. The name Khloe, spelled the same as tabloid darling Khloe Kardashian from TV’s “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” jumped from 665 in 2007 to 196 in 2008. In 2007, it was near the bottom of the list at 960.
Miley, the moniker of teen music/pop culture phenom Miley Cyrus, jumped 152 spots to number 127 in 2008, only the second year the name has made the top 1,000 for girls.
Don’t want your children spending the rest of their lives having to spell their names out? Then pick one of the top 10 names for boys and girls. Jacob and Emma were the most popular names in 2008, according to SSA records.
Check out the full list here.
