Top 20 U.S. Baby Girl Names 2007
Emily, Isabella, Emma, & Ava Top the American Popularity Charts
May 11, 2008
The list of most popular baby girl names in 2007 is in-- and this year, Emily once again reigns at #1.
Every year, on Mother's Day weekend, the U.S. Social Security Baby Name Index releases its annual Popular Baby Name Index of the previous year. Here's the top 20 baby girl names in the United States in 2007:
- Emily
- Isabella
- Emma
- Ava
- Madison
- Sophia
- Olivia
- Abigail
- Hannah
- Elizabeth
- Addison
- Samantha
- Ashley
- Alyssa
- Mia
- Chloe
- Natalie
- Sarah
- Alexis
- Grace
The most striking thing about this list? Although name trends have been changing at a frenzied rate these past few decades, there were very few changes from the 2006-- only two, as a matter a fact.
The only newcomer on the list was Addison, at #11. Addison has been climbing quickly, as it was #28 in 2006 and all the way down at #106 in 2005. This ultra-trendy name is a spinoff from ultra-trendy Madison, which dropped from #3 to #5. These two trendy names stand out like a couple of ultra-modern homes in a sea of classic architecture, as the majority of the trendiest names these days are old-fashioned gems like Emily, Isabella, Olivia, and Abigail.
The only name to drop off the list was Brianna, which dropped from #20 to #22. This female variant of Brian was a 1990s star-- last decade's Addison, if you will. It remains to be seen if Brianna falls into trendy name obscurity or not.
In fact, the top 10 also barely changed between 2006 and 2007. Elizabeth climbed from #11 to #10, and Samantha fell from #10 to #12. In fact, the only top 10 name that moved in either direction more than two points was Sophia, which climbed from #9 to #6.
One name that isn't going anywhere is old-fashioned Emily, which has been the #1 girl's name in America since 1996, when it dethroned Jessica. Slightly less popular sister Emma also remains ultra-hip, although it fell from #2 to #3. And the top "alternative" to Emily and Emma, Ella, remained at #21 for the second year in a row.
Will Emily be dethroned in the near future? If so, Emily's biggest contenders are probably the two names that have climbed the quickest ovet the past decade-- Isabella (which climbed from #4 to #2) and Ava (which climbed from #5 to #4). Ten years ago, both of these names were fairly obscure. Sophia and Addison, as noted above, also are climbing quickly. Another name that may hit the top 10 soon is Chloe, which rose from #18 to #16. And a little lower on the charts, a few names to watch out for are Lily (#33 to #27), Lillian (#38 to #33), Evelyn (#65 to #55), Jocelyn (#73 to #50), and Audrey (#68 to #51).
So in an atmosphere where baby name trends change fairly quickly, how are trendy names from recent decades past doing? Lisa, the most popular name from the 1960s, is all the way down at #573. Jennifer, which became ridiculously ubiquitous in the 1970s, is still fairly common at #64, and its sister name Jessica ranked at #42. Perhaps surprisingly, ultra-trendy 1980s name Ashley hasn't fallen out of vogue, as it still ranked at #13--although similar 1980s trendy names Brittany, Courtney, and Whitney have become as outdated as stirrup pants.
And what about the "aylee" trend? It's still going strong, as Kaylee, Hailey, and Bailey all climbed the charts a bit in 2007. Related names Kayla and Kaitlyn aren't as trendy as they were in the 1990s, but they both remain in the top 50.
Another growing trend is the "heaven" name trend, especially Nevaeh (heaven spelled backwards) which rose from #43 to #31. Similarly popular names include Trinity (#72), Destiny (#41), Angelina (#58), Faith (#74), and, of course, Grace (#20). At the same time, formerly popular Christian names such as Kristina, Christine, and Kristen have fallen way down the charts.
Name trends say quite a bit about our culture. When we look back at the 2000 decade, we'll see a decade dominated by old-fashioned throwbacks like Emily and Isabella-- and yet, we'll also find lots of trendy newcomers like Addison and Nevaeh.
See also:
Top U.S. Baby Boy Names of 2007
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