England & Wales Ranking (2011)

So the combined ranking for England and Wales is out, and there are new number ones for boys and girls. Harry takes over from Oliver, and Amelia is the new ranking leader for girls.

However, the popularity lists for England and Wales separately show how different naming tastes can be for each region.

Wales

1. Oliver / Lily
2. Jack / Amelia
3. Jacob / Ava
4. Riley / Ruby
5. Ethan / Olivia
6. Alfie / Seren
7. Harry / Emily
8. Dylan / Ella
9. Thomas / Mia
10. Charlie / Megan

England

2011 List Released: How Accurate Were My Predictions?

Finally the SSA released the list of most popular baby names of 2011, after a slight delay. The new top 1000 ranking was released yesterday during the "Today Show" on NBC. The new top 10s for each sex are the following:

Boys

01 Jacob

02 Mason

03 William

04 Jayden

05 Noah

06 Michael

07 Ethan

08 Alexander

09 Aiden

10 Daniel

Girls

01 Sophia

02 Isabella

03 Emma

04 Olivia

05 Ava

06 Emily

07 Abigail

08 Madison

09 Mia

10 Chloe

So I was right with Jacob sticking at #1 for another year, however its numbers are now decreasing rapidly, let's hope it continues. I predicted William to keep climbing, and it did, thanks mostly to the royal wedding I believe. I predicted Michael to drop out of the top3 along with Ethan, both spot on. I predicted Mason surging into the top5, so that was a great prediction - I didn't expect it at #2 though, but my mathematical predictional last summer was spot on with this position for Mason. Elijah didn't crack the top10, although it did climb a few spots. I was right in Anthony dropping out of the top10, but not Daniel. I was right with Liam joining the top20, but not Jackson - I think multiple spellings are stopping this one from climbing. My predictions for climbers in the top100 were all spot on (Jaxon, Levi, Henry, Wyatt, Oliver). I also correctly predicted Bentley joining the top100 but not Asher - althought that should happen soon. Grayson and Bryson joined the top100 so I was spot on with those, and Kayden, Ryder, Easton and Jace came close. I mentioned the fastest climber of 2011, Brantley, so I'm proud of that one haha. Emmett, Ezra, Milo, Luca, Enzo and Declan all climbed, but I had a few misses with Kingsley, Finn, Rhys (what happened there?) and Kellan stalling. I correctly predicted the debuts of Maxton, Flynn, Crosby and Zeke. Harvey returned and Oakley almost came back too, just missing out at #1004.

For the girls, I was spot on with pretty much all of my predictions, from Harper, Adele, Quinn, Aria, Alaina, Mila, Maci, Aubree, Kate, Ellie, Hadley, Stella, Adelyn, Willow, Isla, Kinley, Camila, etc... The old lady names I predicted also climbed, especially June. I also correctly predicted Sophia to be #1, replacing Isabella. The only main misses I had was predicting a debut for Pippa, there was a rise but not significant. I completely missed Briella being the fastest climber though...

Overall I was pretty happy with how accurate my predictions were. How did you guys do? Any surprises this year?

Celebrity Baby Names of 2011 - Review

2011 was an interesting year for celeb baby names, although not as much as previous years. Maybe Hollywood is turning the crazy down, which might be positive for the babies themselves, but for us who like to see how far they can go, it certainly isn't as much fun.

Like last year, I'll review some celeb baby names given throughout the year, for sons and daughters, with my opinions on each name. I'll then give my picks on the best and worst names of the year.

BOYS:

Flynn - Probably the trendiest name around, although still uncommon (not for long I think). Regardless of whether it becomes uber trendy, I happen to adore this name, so I definitely encourage more parents to use it. It's fresh and has a certain edge that Finn simply doesn't. Another great choice would be Wynn.

Robert Ford - Dont like. At all. Robert has always been one of those names I've never liked, borderline hating it, and I still don't see it's appeal on baby boys these days, I think it's quite dated. Ford is trying too hard to be cool, but it's just ugly.

Morocco Elijah - I gues any country can be a name, but I'd rather be a country than a nationality (will get to that later...) Elijah is a name that I do like, even though it's uber popular. I'd probably go with Elisha, similar but not as overused.

Koa Thomas - Love the name Koa. So unexpected, and could be a great alternative to the saturated Noah. It's definitely a cool name, fresh, sticks in your head. It has the almost obligatory classic but ultimately boring middle name, in this case Thomas. As long as those are in the middle spot I don't mind, it's when the spunky unique names are wasted in the middle with a first name like Jacob, Michael or John that sets me off. Overall thumbs up.

Names Of The Year 2011

December is already here, and another year is almost over. The SSA will be soon starting to count all the baby names around the country, a list that is published every year in May.

Seeing that there's still 5 months to go, we might as well talk amongst ourselves about our own predictions, and keep things rolling. What were the biggest names of the year? Who will be #1?

For boys:

- I think Jacob will remain #1 yet again, but stiff competition should be starting to form just below it. I think 2011 will be the year this name will start to decline in popularity, but since it's so ahead of the others, it should be safe at the top. Let's hope it loses it's crown soon...

2011 List: Mathematical Prediction

This Summer, I had some extra time to spare, and I thought about comparing the popularity change of the boy names between 2009 and 2010, based on the number of babies born, and use those numbers to predict the 2011 ranking. I did round up the numbers to make things easier for me, otherwise it would've taken me way too many hours.
So this is how the 2011 list would look, if the names this year had the same change (whether positive or negative) as last year:

01 Jacob (=)
02 Mason (+10)
03 Jayden (+1)
04 Ethan (-2)
05 William (=)