Top Baby Names in 2009

Love them or hate them, the list is in ... here's the top 20 baby names for boys and girls in 2009...

20 most popular girls' names

1. Isabella
2. Olivia
3. Lily
4. Chloe
5. Emily
6. Charlotte
7. Ella
8. Ava
9. Amelia
10. Sophie
11. Sienna
12. Mia
13. Grace
14. Ruby
15. Zoe
16. Isabelle
17. Madison
18. Emma
19. Matilda
20. Georgia

20 most popular boys' names

1. Jack
2. Lachlan
3. Cooper
4. William
5. Joshua
6. Thomas
7. Oliver
8. Riley
9. Noah
10. Max
11. James
12. Ethan
13. Aiden
14. Liam
15. Jackson
16. Lucas
17. Alexander
18. Oscar
19. Charlie
20. Connor

Trends for girls

Isabella is the new number one on the girls’ name list for 2009. Isabella was fourth on last year’s list but this year it is even more popular, knocking Lily from the number one position.

It is very likely that the Twlight-phenomena is responsible for the rise of ‘Isabella’. The heroine of the books and films that have taken the world by storm is named Isabella (nicknamed ‘Bella’). Isabelle, without the A, is also in the top 20 names of this year, taking out the girls’ award for the most variations of spelling. There are seven different ways that BabyCenter members spell Isabelle!

Another name which has risen in popularity is the ever-popular Olivia, and we also see the rise of Grace, up from number 20 in 2008 to number 12.

New girls’ names to make the list are Matilda and Emma. Though they are traditional names there were not seen on the list last year. The rise of Matilda could possibly be related to the amount of publicity surrounding Heath Ledger’s daughter Matilda in the time since his death.

On the downward dip are the names Hannah and Caitlyn which have both slipped out of the Top 20 list in 2009.

Trends for boys

It’s no surprise that Jack takes the top spot in the most popular boys’ names list this year. The name has long been very popular, and last year it took the number two position after Lachlan. Lachlan this year is still in the number two position and neither name looks like losing its popularity soon.

Newcomers to this year’s list are the names Connor and Oscar, knocking out Jayden and Samuel, both of which left the list this year.

Climbing the list this year are Cooper, Thomas and Max. Could it be a coincidence that Max is gaining in popularity just as the film Where the Wild Things is released, with the character Max played by the super-cute actor Max Records?

Losing popularity from last year are the names Riley, Ethan, Lucas and Charlie. And the award for variety of spellings goes to Aiden, which has seven variations in use.

Source: http://www.babycenter.com.au