Top Baby Names for 2011

The Social Security Administration has compiled a list of the most popular baby names for 2011.

Popularity in 2011

Rank	Male name	Number of males	Female name	Number of females
1	Jacob	20,153	Sophia	21,695
2	Mason	19,396	Isabella	19,745
3	William	17,151	Emma	18,674
4	Jayden	16,861	Olivia	17,169
5	Noah	16,719	Ava	15,383
6	Michael	16,598	Emily	14,164
7	Ethan	16,567	Abigail	13,149
8	Alexander	15,591	Madison	12,298
9	Aiden	15,389	Mia	11,451
10	Daniel	15,138	Chloe	10,917
11	Anthony	14,181	Elizabeth	9,972
12	Matthew	14,051	Ella	9,501
13	Elijah	13,817	Addison	9,246
14	Joshua	13,601	Natalie	8,593
15	Liam	13,347	Lily	8,112
16	Andrew	13,152	Grace	7,560
17	James	13,133	Samantha	7,330
18	David	13,098	Avery	7,303
19	Benjamin	12,942	Sofia	7,285
20	Logan	12,913	Aubrey	7,135
Note: Rank 1 is the most popular, rank 2 is the next most popular, and so forth. All names are from Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States.

Both of my grandson's names make the top-twenty. Aydan (spelled slightly different) and Logan.

Just out of curiosity I checked to see the stats for 1961. My name is number four on the popularity chart.

Popularity in 1961

Rank	Male name	Number of males	Female name	Number of females
1	Michael	86,908	Mary	47,655
2	David	84,761	Lisa	42,688
3	John	79,893	Susan	37,515
4	James	75,891	Linda	35,566
5	Robert	72,908	Karen	34,684
6	Mark	57,742	Patricia	28,849
7	William	47,998	Donna	28,665
8	Richard	41,121	Cynthia	24,376
9	Thomas	37,530	Sandra	24,132
10	Steven	32,231	Deborah	24,087
11	Jeffrey	32,009	Brenda	23,764
12	Joseph	29,440	Barbara	22,978
13	Charles	29,184	Debra	22,144
14	Kevin	28,903	Lori	21,870
15	Timothy	28,244	Pamela	21,684
16	Kenneth	26,081	Nancy	20,705
17	Daniel	25,875	Sharon	20,433
18	Paul	25,623	Teresa	18,901
19	Scott	23,909	Elizabeth	18,845
20	Brian	22,548	Cheryl	18,295
Note: Rank 1 is the most popular, rank 2 is the next most popular, and so forth. All names are from Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States.

Interestingly, when comparing the 2011 and the 1961 lists there is just one common name on the female side and only five on the male side. Another thing that I found interesting when looking at the lists for 2011 is how many of the male names are Bible names.

• Jacob
• Noah
• Michael
• Daniel
• Matthew
• Elijah
• Joshua
• Andrew
• James
• David
• Benjamin

Whether modern day parents are aware of the biblical roots of those names or not, it is still interesting.

And lastly, looking at the list of female names from 1961 I noticed how many of my female friends have those names. Mary, Karen, Susan, Linda, Lisa, Sandra, Deborah, Brenda, Barbara, Sharon, Elizabeth and Cheryl.