Emily, Jacob still top names for new moms

updated 2:40 p.m. ET May 12, 2006

WASHINGTON - When kids born in 2005 head to kindergarten in a few years, a lot of them will be raising their hands when the teacher calls out “Emily” or “Jacob.” In border states, it will be hard to miss Jose, Angel and Mia.

For the 10th year running, Emily is the most popular name for infant girls in the United States, according to figures this Mother’s Day weekend from the Social Security Administration.

“The whole question was whether Emma going to beat out Emily this time,” said Cleveland Evans, a professor at Bellevue University in Nebraska and president of the American Names Society. Emma was number two on the list.

Biblical names dominate the boys’ list. Jacob is the most popular, as it has been since 1999. Other top picks for boys are Michael, Joshua and Matthew.

“There’s a lot more men mentioned in the Bible than women,” Evans said. Maybe that’s why the girls’ list includes so many non-biblical names such as Madison.

New to the top 10 lists this year are Anthony at No. 8 for boys and Ava at No. 9 for girls. Anthony jumped up from the 11th spot. Ava has risen steadily since 1990, when it was ranked 952.

For male twins, parents like to combine Jacob with Joshua, Matthew with Michael and Daniel with David. The most popular combination for female twins was Hope and Faith.

The agency also releases separate lists for each state, and the most popular names in states along the U.S.-Mexico border reflect the impact of immigration.

Jose is the most popular name for boys in Texas; in Arizona, it’s Angel. Mia is the second most popular name for girls in those two states and fifth in California.

The agency has compiled the 1,000 most popular names since 1997 and started listing twin names in 2004. Variations in the spelling of the same name are counted separately, so there are different entries for Kaitlyn, Katelyn and Kaitlin.

The top 10 for girls in 2005: Emily, Emma, Madison, Abigail, Olivia, Isabella, Hannah, Samantha, Ava and Ashley.

For boys: Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Ethan, Andrew, Daniel, Anthony, Christopher and Joseph.

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