Barack rising fast on baby names list
A lot more parents are naming their kids after President Obama, but not enough for "Barack" to make the top 1,000 boys' names. But watch out this year.
The Social Security Administration, which tracks the nation's most popular baby names, said today that "Barack" did set what is believed to be a record by skyrocketing more than 10,000 spots -- from number 12,535 in 2007 to 2,409 in 2008.
It predicts that Barack will jump into the top 1,000 for 2009.
Within the top 1,000 boy's names, the biggest jump was for Jacoby, moving up 200 spots to number 423.
The agency's commissioner Michael Astrue, a die-hard Red Sox fan, attributed the rise to the appeal of last year’s star rookie centerfielder, Jacoby Ellsbury, the agency said in a news release.
The largest jump within the top 1,000 was on the girl's side, for Khloe, apparently related to Khloe Kardashian from the reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” It rose 469 spots to number 196 in 2008, up from 665 in 2007 and 960 in 2006 (her first year on the list).
Overall, Emma supplanted Emily as the most popular girl's name, while Jacob stayed atop the boy's list. The full top 10 lists are below:
Boys:1) Jacob Girls: 1) Emma
2) Michael 2) Isabella
3) Ethan 3) Emily
4) Joshua 4) Madison
5) Daniel 5) Ava
6) Alexander 6) Olivia
7) Anthony 7) Sophia
8) William 8) Abigail
9) Christopher 9) Elizabeth
10) Matthew 10) Chloe
About Political Intelligence
Glen Johnson is Politics Editor at boston.com and lead blogger for "Political Intelligence." He moved to Massachusetts in the fourth grade, and has covered local, state, and national politics for over 25 years. E-mail him at johnson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globeglen. |
