There seems to be a trend lately of parents choosing names for their children that may be considered more traditional. I think this may be a backlash against decades of popular baby names that were newly coined or given new spellings. It’s interesting to see that there are some names that remain popular from one century to another.
2005
| boys | girls | |
| 1. | Jacob | Emily |
| 2. | Michael | Emma |
| 3. | Joshua | Madison |
| 4. | Matthew | Abigail |
| 5. | Ethan | Olivia |
| 6. | Andrew | Isabella |
| 7. | Daniel | Hannah |
| 8. | Anthony | Samantha |
| 9. | Christopher | Ava |
| 10. | Joseph | Ashley |
| 11. | William | Sophia |
| 12. | Alexander | Elizabeth |
| 13. | Ryan | Alexis |
| 14. | David | Grace |
| 15. | Nicholas | Sarah |
| 16. | Tyler | Alyssa |
| 17. | James | Mia |
| 18. | John | Natalie |
| 19. | Jonathan | Chloe |
| 20. | Nathan | Brianna |
1885
| boys | girls | |
| 1. | John | Mary |
| 2. | William | Anna |
| 3. | James | Emma |
| 4. | George | Elizabeth |
| 5. | Charles | Margaret |
| 6. | Frank | Minnie |
| 7. | Joseph | Clara |
| 8. | Henry | Bertha |
| 9. | Robert | Ida |
| 10. | Thomas | Annie |
| 11. | Edward | Alice |
| 12. | Harry | Florence |
| 13. | Walter | Bessie |
| 14. | Fred | Grace |
| 15. | Arthur | Ethel |
| 16. | Albert | Nellie |
| 17. | Clarence | Martha |
| 18. | Samuel | Sarah |
| 19. | Louis | Ella |
| 20. | Grover | Mabel |
Source: Social Security Administration
Update: This post was featured in the October 6, 2006 edition of the Carnival of Pregnancy.
You can’t put a price on enlightenment. 
October 9th, 2006 at 5:37 pm
Great post. It is neat to see that some of the names are the same. I guess a good name really never goes away.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:35 pm
Lisa: Glad you enjoyed the post!
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:06 am
Love the popular names lists, they don’t change that much from year to year but over a 10-20 year span you can see the changes and even names coming back into fashion again Baby Names
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:10 pm
This is great stuff.Here is a website which is relevant,It helps to pick a right name for the baby. Just by clicking buttons, we were able to play with endless combinations of names. Made the process so much fun that we can’t wait to name our next baby!! BabyNames
March 5th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Its really a Great Post. This is a amazing software which generates endless combination of names with 2 simple steps. Guaranteed Easy And Fun. It really got TONS of information regarding Baby names.