America's most popular baby names: Sophia, Jacob and... Maverick

GlobalPost

Twenty years from now, you can expect to be shaking hands with a lot of Sophias. And Isabellas. And Emmas. 

According to the Social Security Administration, these are the names of America's next generation. 

They've compiled a list of the most popular US baby names as registered with the administration over the past year, to provide inspiration – or let you know what to avoid. 

The top 10 are as follows:

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

So far, so respectable. It's when you come to the table showing how names have risen or fallen in popularity that things really get interesting.

Among the hottest new names for boys are Brantley, Iker, Atticus and, spectacularly, Maverick. If your newborn's a girl, call her Briella, Aria, Bristol or Londyn if you want to be really on trend.

At the other end of the spectrum, some of the names falling fastest from favor include Kobe, Orlando, Jamarion and Brett, and Sierra, Kiera, Miley and Desiree.

All of which testifies to how suggestible parents are. Celebrity influence is easy to trace, Social Security says, noting that Briella is the name of a reality TV hairdresser in 'Jerseylicious,' while Mason is the name of Kourtney Kardashian's son.

Things are certainly different from 100 years ago, as the administration's historical data shows. Mary, for example, was America's most popular girls name for 34 years straight between 1912 and 1946.

While there'll always be parents looking for the new, others are bringing back the old: Elvis has returned to the top 1,000 and was last year's 904th most popular name.

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