Emma and Aiden Are Top Baby Names of 2008

BabyCenter’s Annual Ranking of Top 100 Names Highlights New Naming Trends: Traditional Names Return; Television, Sports and Politics Big Influencers Celebrities Buck Trend with Most Unique Baby Names

San Francisco, CA. - BabyCenter, LLC, the Web’s #1 global interactive parenting network, today announced the Top 100 Baby Names of 2008. Leading the boys list is Aiden for the fourth consecutive year, while Emma returns to the top spot for girls after being bumped in 2007 by Sophia, this year’s #2 for girls. Sponsored by JOHNSON’S®, BabyCenter’s Top 100 Baby Names list is derived from over 400,000 names submitted in 2008 by BabyCenter parents. To capture true popularity, BabyCenter’s exclusive list combines names that sound the same but have multiple spellings. BabyCenter’s Top 100 Baby Names of 2008 is available at http://www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names-2008.

BabyCenter.com® Top 10 Boy and Girl Baby Names of 2008:
Girls Boys
Emma Aiden
Sophia Jayden
Madison Ethan
Isabella Jacob
Olivia Caden
Ava Jackson
Madeline Noah
Addison Jack
Hailey Logan
Lily Matthew


Among the hottest trends is a return to traditional names after several years of unique and unexpected choices climbing the list. Some of the fastest climbers were more classic choices, including Nathaniel (up 11 slots), Samuel (up 11 slots) and Oliver (up 13 spots) for boys. Traditional girls’ names climbing the list include Victoria (up six spots), Charlotte (up 10 spots) and Sophie (up 15 spots).

“It makes sense that in a more serious year for our country and our culture, parents are choosing more traditional names. Parents want names that evoke feelings of strength, comfort and safety,” said Linda Murray, editor-in-chief, BabyCenter.com®. “BabyCenter parents are more likely this year to choose a name that suggests strength, kindness and compassion than in recent years.”

Celebs Keep It Unique

Many celebrities bucked the 2008 trend toward more classic names and continued to surprise their fans with unique baby names. BabyCenter recently asked moms to weigh in on their favorite celebrity baby names from the year. Nicole Richie and Joel Madden’s pick for their baby girl Harlow won by a landslide, with 33% of respondents favoring the name, while 18% cooed over the name Angelina and Brad chose for their newest addition, Vivienne. As for the boy names, Matthew McConaughey’s new son Levi was favored by 10% of respondents.

Other celebrity baby names and how they rank on BabyCenter include:
Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony Max #56
Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott Stella #114
Giada de Laurentiis & Todd Thompson Jade #124
Mark Wahlberg & Rhea Durham Brendan #145
Matthew McConaughey & Camila Alves Levi #152
Lisa Marie Presley & Michael Lockwood Harper/Finley #183/#375
Toni Collette & Dave Galafassi Sage #382
Gillian Anderson & Mark Griffiths Felix #410
Matt Damon & Luciana Barroso Gia #521
Laila Ali & Curtis Conway Curtis #525
Soleil Moon Frye & Jason Goldberg Jagger #922
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Vivienne/Knox #1133/#1372
Amy Poehler & Will Arnett Archie #1198
Adam Sandler & Jackie Sandler Sunny #1407
Cate Blanchett & Andrew Upton Ignatius #2340
Jessica Alba & Cash Warren Honor #3444
Nicole Richie and Joel Madden Harlow #3955
Brooke Burke and David Charve Shaya #4284
Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale Zuma #4479
Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz Bronx #7058
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban Sunday #8781


Sports, Television, Politics All Influence Naming

In 2008, new parents drew naming inspiration from sources new and old, including sports heroes, favorite television shows and political figures. While Barack Obama didn’t make the Top 100 yet, BabyCenter’s Top 100 does include past presidents, such as Madison, Taylor and Kennedy (all for girls) and Jackson and Tyler (both for boys). BabyCenter also found that parents draw inspiration from television shows. Names influenced by popular shows today include Lauren and Brody (The Hills); Carly (iCarly); Jack, Charlie and Michael (Lost); and Jack, Claire, Noah and Hayden (Heroes). But favorite shows from the past were popular too as evidenced by Dylan, Brandon and Steve (Beverly Hills 90210), as well as Samantha, Charlotte and Brady (Sex & the City), all on the Top 100 list. Sports figures also show influence over naming, as the Super Bowl-winning Manning brothers, Eli (New York Giants) and Peyton (Indianapolis Colts) are among several quarterbacks whose names were hot in 2008.

Find the Perfect Name on BabyCenter.com

BabyCenter’s Baby Names Finder is an interactive experience where parents-to-be can personalize and share their journey of choosing a name. In addition to being able to search BabyCenter’s database of over 100,000 names parents can:

* Find origins and meanings
* Find names which share common characteristics, spellings, or sounds
* Save favorites to a list
* Create a poll and send to friends to vote on name choices
* Comment on individual names
* Track popularity data both among BabyCenter population and the U.S. population, with U.S. population data spanning the last 100 years
* Upload photos of their baby on the baby’s name page.

BabyCenter’s unique tool enables parents to customize their naming experience and also create a social experience for themselves, family and friends.