Names.

Names.

So the new list of popular baby names in the USA came out for the end of 2009 last week (See it here). And I think we should analyze it, and see how many in the top ten for both boy and girls actually come from the top ten popular young adult books of 2008 & 2009 from ALA (2008 List, 2009 List). Seeing as what parents read, is what parents name apparently.

Warning it's a very long post, and may or may not fail in the end.

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So First the Female Top 10 Babies Names of 2010:

1. Isabella~ 22,067 Births

2. Emma~ 17,716 Births

3. Olivia~17,246 Births

4. Sophia~ 16,743 Births

5. Ava~ 15,730 Births

6. Emily~ 15,204 Births

7. Madison~ 15,097 Births

8. Abigail~ 14,232 Births

9. Chloe~ 11,785 Births

10. Mia~ 11,319 Births

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Top 10 Male Babies Names of 2010:

1. Jacob~ 20,858 Births

2. Ethan~ 19,664 Births

3. Michael~ 18,677 Births

4. Alexander~ 18,025 Births

5. William~ 17,696 Births

6. Joshua~ 17,418 Births

7. Daniel~ 17,336 Births

8. Jayden~ 17,082 Births

9. Noah~ 17,061 Births

10. Anthony~ 16,139 Births

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Top Ten YA Books of 2008:

(All the names are from the book summaries, or because I know the book I listed more)

1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

• Main Character Names- Isabella aka Bella, Edward, Jacob, Alice, etc. we know them.
• Name on the List?-  Isabella, Jacob
• What I Think- Twilight Craze. All I'm going to say. The Yahoo article I read, said Isabella hit the top 10 in 2004, a year before Twilight was released.  Jacob has also held the top of the male babies list for 11 years, which isn't surprising since I know about 5 different Jacobs at my school. Even the name Cullen is on the rise? Seriously, I'm not kidding, See the Yahoo article here.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

• Main Character Names- Harry, Hermione, Ron, Severus, Fred, George, Ginny, etc.
• Name on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- Meany parents, who wouldn't want to name their kid Severus? Or Harry. I mean it's one of the greatest series ever! ;)

3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

• Main Character Name- Greg...
• Name on the List?-  NO
• What I Think- Haven't read, this even though one of my siblings has. I'm wondering why its on the top Teen book list from ALA though? Because I thought it was for like younger kids, pre-teen and younger... I'll have to go find them and see.

4. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

• Main Character Names- Rose, Dimitri, Lissa...
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- Love, Love this series. And I love the name Rose.

5. Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

• Main Character Names- Maximum, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, Angel...
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- Not sure about this one again, I'll have to say I don't know why any of those names would be on the list except maybe Angel.

6. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

• Main Character Names- Clary, Jace, Simon
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- Haven't read this yet, and Aly & Ky have been yelling at me to forever, I love the name Clary though it rolls off you tongue.

7. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

• Main Character Names- Gemma, Ann, Felicity, Pippa...
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- Went on my to e-read buy list when I researched it. I like the name Ann and Gemma.

8. Extras by Scott Westerfield

• Main Character Name- Aya...
• Name on the List?-  NO
• What I Think- Ava (#5) and Aya, rhyme though!

9. Before I Die by Jenny Downham

• Main Character Name- Tessa...
• Name on the List?-  NO
• What I Think- I like the name Tessa, it might be my best friends new nickname.

10. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

• Main Character Names- Tyler, Bethany...
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- I like the name Bethany, but not Tyler. Neither of them are on the list though.

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Top Ten YA Books of 2009:

1. Paper Towns by John Green

• Main Character Names- Quentin, Margo
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- Both are unique so I doubt they would be on there.

2. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

• Same as Above.

3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

• Main Character Names- Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Prim
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- These are really names that might catch on maybe? I like the name Prim.

4. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

• Same as Above.

5. Identical by Ellen Hopkins

• Main Character Names- Kaeleigh, Raeanne
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- Their special again....

6. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

• Main Character Names- Bod, Jack...
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- I never heard of this book before. I guess Jack is common though.

7. Wake by Lisa McMann

• Main Character Names- Janie, Cabel...
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- I like these names, and this story is on my wish list.

8. Untamed by P.C. & Kristin Cast

• Main Character Names- Zoey, James...
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- James is pretty popular, and I love the name Zoey, though.

9. The Disreputable History of Grankie Landau-Banks  by E. Lockhart

• Main Character Names- Frankie, Matthew, Trish...
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- Matthew, is really popular (cough I know like a zillion), and Trish is a cool name. Even though I've never heard of the book before.

10. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

• Main Character Names- Katsa, Po
• Names on the List?-  NONE
• What I Think- Love these two characters, but I neither have their names on the list, pout.

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So Not many books have their main characters names on the top ten, but it proves the point of the Yahoo Article with Jacob and Isabella. Yet, doesn't really prove my point. But how many parents do you think read baby books? Their books, you get names from them, so ya you still get your baby names from books.


Another point to be made is that authors like to make up character names or use ones that haven't been used in centuries. I mean I hadn't heard of the name Po or Katsa, before reading Graceling, or Katniss or Peeta before reading The Hunger Games. Had you? Probably not. Authors in my opinion when they use unique or special names make their stories interesting, maybe its something I should ask them when I interview them to see if they do it on purpose.

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I guess I should share my favorite baby names with you?
For girls:
Madeline Theresa Ann
Elizabeth Marie Ann
Lynette Jade
Lavinia (or Laviana)
For guys:
Rhys Alexander Andrew
Ceri
Oskan
Finn


Some of those are from books, Rhys especially. And others from searches when I'm trying to find character names for stories. And Finn isn't because of Glee its because of one of Kate Brian's books, Megan Meade's... you know the title.


The highest my name, Andrea, has ever ranked in the last 100 years is 23rd and that was in 1978. And my name is kinda family related so I appreciate it.


This post was inspired by the Yahoo News article: Name that Baby: Mom & Dad Choose Isabella, Jacob.

(^I think she wants her name to be special.)

What do you think?

Do you think if you had a choice would you want a special name, or a popular name?


(all photos are from Google images)