WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack and Miley move up, but the classics still rule. Emma is the top baby name for girls, Jacob for boys.
Emma's surge to the top in 2008 ended Emily's 12-year reign as the No. 1 baby name for girls, the Social Security Administration announced Friday.
Jacob held onto the boy's crown for the 10th straight year.
Barack may have been the man of the year in 2008 as Obama won the White House, but the president still trails the king. Barack moved up a record 10,126 places to No. 2,409. Elvis is still in the building, though he slipped from 673 to 713.
Isha Kallay of suburban Washington, D.C., named her son — born before last year's presidential election — Obama. She said she was concerned that Barack might become too popular a name.
"I wanted my baby to have a special name that other people don't have," Kallay said from her home in Lanham, Md.
Baby naming experts said Americans are pulled by sometimes conflicting impulses when choosing names for their children. They gravitate toward the popular, wanting their child to fit in. But many also want their child's name to be unique, so they don't have to share it with four other kids in class at school.
Many turn to the Bible; others turn to TV.
Emma debuted in the top 10 in 2002, the same year that Jennifer Aniston's character on "Friends" gave the name to her TV show baby. In the latest lineup, Emma was followed by Isabella, Emily, Madison and Ava.
Emma's surge to the top in 2008 ended Emily's 12-year reign as the No. 1 baby name for girls, the Social Security Administration announced Friday.
Jacob held onto the boy's crown for the 10th straight year.
Barack may have been the man of the year in 2008 as Obama won the White House, but the president still trails the king. Barack moved up a record 10,126 places to No. 2,409. Elvis is still in the building, though he slipped from 673 to 713.
Isha Kallay of suburban Washington, D.C., named her son — born before last year's presidential election — Obama. She said she was concerned that Barack might become too popular a name.
"I wanted my baby to have a special name that other people don't have," Kallay said from her home in Lanham, Md.
Baby naming experts said Americans are pulled by sometimes conflicting impulses when choosing names for their children. They gravitate toward the popular, wanting their child to fit in. But many also want their child's name to be unique, so they don't have to share it with four other kids in class at school.
Many turn to the Bible; others turn to TV.
Emma debuted in the top 10 in 2002, the same year that Jennifer Aniston's character on "Friends" gave the name to her TV show baby. In the latest lineup, Emma was followed by Isabella, Emily, Madison and Ava.
