For the fifth year in a row, Olivia holds the top spot as the most popular girl baby name in Minnesota, and also reigns high on the national list.
How has the popularity of your name in Minnesota changed in 100 years?
New data on popular baby names in Minnesota in 2015 also sheds light on the names that have been rising and falling in popularity in recent years. Look up yours for the past century.
May 17, 2016 at 4:38PM
Among the boys, Henry nabbed the title for the second year in a row here, but didn't even make the top 10 nationally.
The annual data, released today by the U.S. Social Security Administration, also sheds light on the names that have been rising and falling in popularity in recent years. We've pulled out some intriguing trends, and have also provided a searchable graphic (below) that allows you to see the popularity of a name each year since 1910.
The most popular names reflect the relatively low level of racial and ethnic diversity in Minnesota. However, looking at the whole spectrum of names shows how the state is changing. Although their numbers remain small with less than 100 per year, Muslim names like Mohamed, Abdirahm, Aliyah and Amira are becoming more common.
Also, the fact that Minnesota's list this year includes 1,017 girl names and 899 boy names – double the number of unique names that were on the list 20 years ago – is partly due to the diversity of names brought by more recent immigrants. Back in 1910, the first year of data, there were only 212 girl names and 118 boy names. Caveat: the data only includes a name where there were at least five babies given that name that year and only includes children who registered for a Social Security number.
The girls' top 20 list includes names that are bouncing back -- Evelyn and Eleanor -- after decades of low popularity. Harper is also climbing quickly as a girl name (there were also 7 boys given that name in 2015). Prior to 2003, there weren't enough baby girl Harpers in Minnesota to get included in this dataset.
The former top name, Ava, continues to decline, along with Ella, Emily and Abigail.
On the boys top 20 list, Oliver, Liam and Levi are particularly surging, while Ethan, Benjamin, Logan and Samuel are declining but remain among the most popular.
To get a peek at what names might make the top 20 in future years, we looked at names that have gained the most in popularity over the past decade. (We limited it to names that had at least 50 babies with that name in 2015).
Most of the names on these lists are ones that have not been historically popular, Eloise being the only possible exception. You won't find Edith on this list, but it is rising in popularity, most likely due to a character on the recently-concluded TV series, Downton Abbey.
We also calculated the median age of each name to find relatively new names and those that have fallen out of favor.
Among the girls, the youngest names include: Arya, Everly, Adalynn, Isla, Kinsley, Mila and Quinn. There are lots of variations of the same name, such as Brinley and Brynlee.
Among the boys: Crosby, Declan, Henrik, Jase, Ryker, Jaxon and Easton. There's also Greyson and Grayson.
Interestingly, Finley shows up for both genders, with 44 girls and 48 boys given that name last year.
Names that have fallen out of favor and are mostly our grandparents and great-grandparents include: Mabel, Bertha, Viola, Lucile, Hilda, Myrtle, Elmer, Irving, Rudolph, Wilbur and Emil.
Search the data yourself for any name that has appeared in the data since 1910.
Data Drop is a weekly feature that uses data analysis and visualizations to explain, surprise, inform and entertain readers on topics relevant to Minnesotans. Do you have an idea you'd like us to explore? Contact MaryJo Webster
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