Rising Stars


I looked at the Social Security Administration’s website to try to get a glimpse of the future. The top ten names of today will not always be in favor, and in certain trends one can see the shape of things to come. The Social Security Administration has a feature that allows one to track the popularity of a name over a given number of years…a very useful feature for parents to be. It also is a useful feature for anyone looking to see which names have moved up the fastest in the last 12 years. They may not be garden variety yet, but they are on the move, and, if they continue to gain in popularity, they may be the most popular baby names of the future. The names listed are only ones that have climbed every single year since 1991. The huge jumps in rank typically are less dramatic towards the top.

Girls’ Names
1. Chloe ~ Top of the heap in Britain, Chloe has shot up from ranking #184 in 1991 to #24 in 2002. It has made a significant hike up the charts every year since the early 90’s.
2. Sophia ~ Sophia, once relegated to the scrap pile, has made a tremendous climb since 1991, when it ranked #230. In just 12 years, it has gone to #27.
3. Mia ~ This unusual name climbed from #343 to #42, and seems to still be on its way up.
4. Faith ~ As parents revive a lot of old virtue names, Faith is experiencing an amazing revival. At #267 in 1991, it now sits comfortably at #48.
5. Makayla ~ An alternate spelling of Michaela. Virtually unheard of before 1998, Makayla has had one of the biggest jumps of any name, from #783 in 1991, to #50 in 2002.
6. Zoe ~ In 1991, Zoe was ranked #360. Today, it ranks in at a very respectable #61.
7. Kylie ~ Although Kylie isn’t climbing quite so fast as some of the other names on this list, it made a huge jump between 2001 and 2002, from #93 to #62.
8. Riley ~ Once a boys’ name, Riley is now a rising girls’ name. From #767 in 1991, it has gone to #77 in 2002.
9. Lily ~ An old-fashioned flower name, Lily has gained slowly and stealthily for the past 12 years, making the climb from #525 to #79.
10. Ava ~ Still unusual, but one of the fastest climbing names around, Ava has gone from #887 to #83, making it the name most increased in popularity on this list of girls’ names.

The copyright of the article Rising Stars in Baby Names is owned by Kristen Hanley Cardozo. Permission to republish Rising Stars in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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