For anyone in my line of work (Maternity Nursing) this top-ten list from Babycenter.com was a no brainer. In fact, I could have predicted the outcome in July. Maybe now people will realize that we weren't kidding when we said all year Sophia is going to be the #1 baby name. Also, I will say that if Jack and Jackson were combined, they would probably be #2. We gets so many people naming their boys that name now. And, really, the Aiden, Cayden, Haiden, Brayden, Jayden, Zaiden trend has to stop (yes, I have heard them all from patients, in countless different spellings).The Addison trend does not surprise me either. The name came out of nowhere and I now hear it all the time.  

  Baby naming is a topic that I have become a bit obsessed with since I got this job. Nothing pleases me more than patients who pick fabulous names for their children. It is an equal downer when people pick ridiculous or super-common names. I do feel bad for the people who didn't realize that Addison would be so common when they picked it (Thanks, Grey's Anatomy).

   At my hospital they take photos of babies if then parents are interested and post them on the website. It is only about 10% of our deliveries, but it is interesting to see the trends. You can search out hospitals in any city to see what names are popular in your part of the country at http://www.our365.com/webnursery/WebNursery/BabyFinder/BabyFinder.aspx 

Any of you who have read Freakonomics know how names become trends. For those who have not read it, you can read a summary of the baby name chapter on Slate here and here.