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Social Security: Jacob, Sophia top baby names in 2011

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Jacob and Sophia are America’s most popular baby names for 2011. This is the 13th year in a row Jacob tops our list for boys and the first year for Sophia, who knocks Isabella to number two after a two-year stint at the top of our list for girls.

There is only one new name in the top 10 on either list this year. Mason rocketed to No. 2 from outside of the top 10 to replace Anthony on the boys’ side.

Here are the top 10 boys and girls names for 2011:

Boys:
1. Jacob
2. Mason
3. William
4. Jayden
5. Noah
6. Michael
7. Ethan
8. Alexander
9. Aiden
10. Daniel

Girls:
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Olivia
5. Ava
6. Emily
7. Abigail
8. Madison
9. Mia
10. Chloe

Mason, a relatively popular name since the 1990s, had never cracked the top 25 until 2010, when it hit No. 12. Some may attribute this year’s rise to reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian’s son. Moreover, Mason has been a regular top 5 name in Wisconsin for many years, undoubtedly a tribute to strong-legged Green Bay Packer kicker Mason Crosby.

This year’s winners for biggest jump in popularity in the Top 500 are Brantley and Briella.

The fastest riser on the girls’ list may come from Briella Calafiore, the blonde reality star hairdresser from cable TV’s “Jerseylicious” and its spinoff, “Glam Fairy.”

For the boys, there could be some controversy over Brantley – depending on whether you are a fan of college football or country music. Arguments could be made that the popularity of the name comes from John Brantley, the quarterback for perennial powerhouse The University of Florida, or from Brantley Gilbert, the singer with the No. 1 country hit “Country Must Be Country Wide.”

The second fastest riser on the boys’ list is Iker. There may be some international influence here — Iker Casillas Fernandez is the well-known goalkeeper for both Real Madrid and the Spanish National Team. In 2010, Iker led Spain to a World Cup championship, just in time to influence the 2011 baby names list.

On the girls’ side, Angelique is the second biggest climber, but she may have gotten there with some magic. Angelique is the character name of a witch from the cult favorite “Dark Shadows.” She worked her witchcraft just in time for the blockbuster Hollywood remake of the 1960s TV show.

Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue is happy to announce Elvis is back where he belongs, in the top 1,000.

“Last year, I was all shook up when Elvis dropped way down below the top 1,000, but Elvis is back into the promised land of the top 1,000, and that’s all right,” he said.

Elvis has been spotted at number 904 on the list.

Social Security started compiling baby name lists in 1997, and the agency’s website offers lists of baby names for each year since 1880.

Social Security is America’s source for most popular baby names because parents supply this information to the agency when applying for a child’s Social Security number at the time of the child’s birth.

— Find out more:
Top baby names of 2011: www.socialsecurity.gov
Top Hawaii baby names: www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/namesbystate.cgi

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