Have you been wondering what the most popular baby names are? As you can imagine, we love personalized items, which also means that we are really into baby’s names.  Big time.  And each year we love to see what names are the most popular and what are some of the newest names on the block.

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, the top name for a boy from 2014 is Noah and for a girl is Emma.   And the fastest rising new names for a boy is Bode and fastest rising girl’s name is Montserrat. Looking over the period from 1915-2014, Michael has been the most popular boy’s name the most often (44 years on and off) while Mary dominated for girls 41 times over the years, says the SSA.

This past year brings us these top 10 baby girl names: Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, Mia, Emily, Abigail, Bailey, Madison and Charlotte.  And the top 10 baby boy names for 2014 are Noah, Liam, Mason, Jacob, William, Ethan, Michael, Alexander, James and Daniel.   According to Parenting Magazine, some of the most popular old-fashioned names, which are back in style, include: Gertrude, Nellie, Ida, Clara, plus Elias and Elijah.

But there is a growing trend toward unisex names.  These are those names, which many celebrities also love to use for their new babies, that some think are unique or different or even strange.  But the fact is, they have become increasingly popular as millennials want their children to feel special.

For instance, is the name Aspen a girl’s name or a boy’s name?  How about Amal, Landry or Oakley.  What about Dakota, Armani or Emory?  And how about Quinn, Riley, Harley, Kamryn or Dallas.  Certainly they are interesting names and the might even help a child create a unique identity instead of being knows as Emma or  Jacob.  But is there any downside to a unisex name?  How will that unique name affect a child?  Perhaps a future recruiter will not really know if they will be interviewing a male or female for a perspective job until they meet in person (or until they Facetime)!

Can you think of any other ways that the gender-neutral names will be either positive or negative for the new babies being born this year?  What are some of your favorite names?  We’d love to know!

Best wishes,

Renee

P.S.   Since we also love (really love) our four-legged friends, we looked into the top 10 dog’s names for 2014.  According to a list of the most popular puppy names released recently by the Department of Animal Services, here’s the top 10: Bella, Buddy, Lucy, Max, Daisy, Charlie, Molly, Bailey, Boxy and Maggie.