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The two names topped the lists issued by the Social Security
Administration of the most popular names given to U.S.-born
girls and boys in 2016. It was Noah's fourth consecutive year at
the top of the list of male names, and Emma's third on the
female side.
The retirement and disability benefits agency, which released
its latest findings on Friday, compiles the lists of most
popular baby names every year, in part to draw Americans to its
website.
Rounding out the top 10 list of baby boys' names in 2016 were
Liam, William, Mason, James, Benjamin, Jacob, Michael, Elijah
and Ethan. For girls, it was Olivia, Ava, Sophia, Isabella, Mia,
Charlotte, Abigail, Emily and Harper.
Before Noah emerged as the top name for boys, parents favored
another name from the Old Testament, Jacob, for the previous 14
years. For most of the latter half of the 20th century, Michael
topped the list.
The most popular 21st century names for girls before 2014 were
Sophia, Isabella and Emily. For the second half of the 20th
century, Jessica, Ashley, Jennifer, Lisa and Mary each had their
turns as parents' favorite names for girls.
Over the past 100 years, Mary has been the name parents chose
the most for their daughters, followed by Patricia, Jennifer,
Elizabeth and Linda. For boys, the top go-to name for the past
century has been James, followed by John, Robert, Michael and
William.
With baby name trends ebbing and flowing over the decades, the
agency also reported the names with the greatest change in
popularity for 2016.
For girls, it was Kehlani, which jumped to No. 872 from 3,359.
"Perhaps this can be attributed to Kehlani Parrish, a
singer/songwriter who was nominated for a Grammy in 2016," the
agency said.
The biggest gainer among boys' names was Kylo, which vaulted to
No. 901 from 3,269."Kylo Ren, the son of Han Solo and Princess
Leia and the grandson of Darth Vader, was a character in the
2015 film 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,'" it noted.
(Editing by Frank McGurty and Dan Grebler)
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