Top Baby Girl Names in California
Emily, Isabella, & Sophia Top the CA State Popularity Charts in 2007
The top baby names by state are in for 2007-- and Emily is still on top. According to the U.S. Social Security Baby Name Index, these are the top 20 names given to baby girls in the state of California in 2007.
- Emily
- Isabella
- Sophia
- Ashley
- Samantha
- Mia
- Natalie
- Emma
- Alyssa
- Jocelyn
- Elizabeth
- Ava
- Abigail
- Kimberly
- Madison
- Olivia
- Brianna
- Sofia
- Jasmine
- Andrea
Emily has been the top baby girl name in California since 1999, when it dethroned Jessica. The name Emily is also the top baby girl across the U.S. as a whole. The related name Emma is ranked at #8; nationally, Emma ranks at #3. Ella, another similar name that's ranked at #21 nationally, is only ranked at #48 in California.
Isabella, which is ranked #2 in California, is also ranked #2 nationally. As it has on the national level, Isabella has leapt up the popularity charts in California, and wasn't used much at all a decade ago. Will Isabella surpass Emily next year? Wait and see. Similar name Isabel also ranked highly in California at #59, although the spelling Isabelle, which is very trendy elsewhere in the U.S., did not rank in the top #100 in California.
Another serious contender to dethrone Emily is Sophia, which jumped from #7 in 2006 to #3 in 2007. In fact, Sophia may have been ranked higher, were it not for alternate spelling Sofia at #18. Of course, another big name to watch is Jocelyn, which leapt from #26 in 2006 all the way up to #10 in 2007 (although Jocelynis only ranked #50 nationwide). Also rising up to the top 20 chart for the first time is Olivia, from #22 to #16. Interestingly, Olivia is significantly more popular in the U.S. as a whole than it is in California-- it ranked at #7 in 2007 on the overall American popularity charts, and has been in the top 20 since 1999.
Other upwardly mobile names on the top 10 are Mia (#8 in 2006, #6 in 2007), Alyssa (#13 in 2007, #9 in 2006), and Elizabeth (#12 in 2006, #11 in 2007). Names that are falling on the California top 20 list are Ashley (#3 in 2006, #4 in 2007), Natalie (#6 in 2006, #7 in 2007), Ava (#11 in 2006, #12 in 2007), Abigail (#9 in 2006, #13 in 2007), Madison (#11 in 2006, #15 in 2007), Brianna (#15 in 2006, #17 in 2007), Jasmine (#16 in 2006, #19 in 2007), and Andrea (#17 in 2006, #20 in 2007). A big loser was former #1 name Jessica, which plunged from #18 in 2006 to #31 in 2007.
Because of the large Hispanic population in California, names that are popular among the Hispanic population tend to rank more highly in California than they do in the U.S. as a whole. Some of these names include Ashley (#3 in California, #13 nationally), Valeria (#26 in California, #98 nationally), Jennifer (#30 in California, #64 nationally), and Giselle (#41 in California, #134 nationally). Baby girl names that reflect Hispanic heritage that are in the top 100 names include Daniela (#46), Camila (#58), Gabriela (#72), Esmerelda (#79), Gabriella (#80), Liliana (#91), and Guadalupe (#100).
Of course, trends vary by state. A few names that are significantly more popular in the U.S. as a whole that are not as popular in California are Madison (#5 nationwide, #15 in California), Hannah (#9 nationwide, #22 in California), Addison (#11 nationwide, #69 in California), Grace (#20 nationwide, #38 in California), Anna (#25 nationwide, #92 in California), Lily (#27 nationwide, #53 in California), and Nevaeh (#31 nationwide, #62 in California).
See also:
Top Baby Boy Names in California
Top Baby Girl Names in the U.S. 2007
