The “Holiday of Love” has once again supported Hallmark and Fannie Mae through the year 2013. American’s exchange 180 million cards on Valentine’s Day and the average spending for this romantic holiday is $13.19 billion. That’s a lot of conversation hearts! But perhaps you spent that special day with your loved one sharing, shall we say, “the gift that keeps on giving”? If that’s the case then you will be glad you saved your money. This November you may be interested in the top baby names for babies born in Illinois. According to the Social Security Administration, here is a list of the top 20 boy and girl names and the number of babies that were dubbed them.
Boys:
1. Alexander (895)
2. Michael (792)
3. Jacob (773)
4. Noah (731)
5. Daniel (700)
6. Mason (694)
7. Ethan (691)
8. William (691)
9. Anthony (679)
10. Benjamin (641)
11. Jayden (639)
12. Liam (596)
13. Aiden (582)
14. Matthew (555)
15. Logan (551)
16. David (537)
17. Joshua (495)
18. Andrew (489)
19. Nathan (483)
20. Lucas (476)
Girls:
1. Sophia (889)
2. Olivia (846)
3. Isabella (814)
4. Emma (688)
5. Emily (621)
6. Ava (575)
7. Mia (533)
8. Abigail (498)
9. Sofia (405)
10. Natalie (400)
11. Elizabeth (380)
12. Ella (380)
13. Madison (377)
14. Grace (374)
15. Chloe (356)
16. Addison (344)
17. Evelyn (329)
18. Avery (323)
19. Samantha (323)
20. Lily (305)
The girl list tends to change a bit more than the boy list. You will find William in the top 20 for more than 100 years. The Social Security Administration provides baby names listing back to the 1880’s. The name Michael has held #1 most often for boys, and Mary has been ranked the number one name 44 times for girls over the last 100 years.
For some naming the baby is one of the most difficult decisions to make. Singers, movie stars, relatives, and religion are venues for potential names. Although parents may like a famous name, they are not necessarily honoring the famous person who dons it, but merely choosing the name they may not have heard otherwise. Some tend to dislike names associated with negative experiences in their pasts. Naming a child is an important task. Carefully choosing a name is one thing, but don’t forget the initials. What the first, middle and last initials will result in should also be considered to prevent an embarrassing monogram.
Can’t decide? Print out the list, cut the names into pieces, throw them in a hat and draw!
Comments