Parents of babies born at GBMC in 2009 often didn’t limit themselves
to following national trends in choosing names, according to an analysis
of the most popular name choices reported recently by parenting website
BabyCenter.com.
Classrooms in the area might in a few years be filled with many girls
named Mary, as this was the most popular name (35) given to girls born
at GBMC in 2009. Interestingly, Mary didn’t rank among the Top 10 in
either 2007 or 2008 at GBMC, and didn’t crack the Top 100 nationally
in 2009 according to the BabyCenter.com list.
Leading the way for boy’s names at GBMC was William (42), which
topped the list for the second consecutive year, followed by Michael
(39). Neither boy’s name finished among the top 10 nationally -
Michael ranked 18th while William placed 27th. None of the Top 10
boy’s names nationally finished among GBMC’s Top 10 most
popular.
“Picking a baby’s name is a monumental decision, and the multitude of
“baby name” websites makes it hard to narrow a million choices down to
one,” said Lori Kantziper, RNC, clinical partner for the Postpartum
Unit and a nurse specializing in care for new mothers and infants for
more than 12 years.
Top 10 Girls Names:
1. Mary (35)
2. Madison & Olivia (19 each)
3. Grace (18)
4. Deborah (17)
5. Sarah (16)
6. Emily & Patricia (15)
7. Addison, Emma & Sophia (14)
8. Chloe, Elizabeth, Kathleen, Margaret & Susan (13)
9. Debra, Ella, Jennifer, Julia, Molly, Nancy (12)
10. Abigail, Anna, Catherine, & Katherine (11)
Top 10 Boys Names:
1. William (42)
2. Michael (39)
3. Robert & John (37)
4. James (33)
5. Matthew (25)
6. Thomas & David (24)
7. Ryan & Joseph (21)
8. Andrew (19)
9. Christopher (18)
10. Alexander, Justin & Nicholas (17)
Interesting facts about GBMC’s 2009 baby names:
o After falling to #8 last year, Michael seems to have regained popularity, moving back into #2 as it was in 2007.
o Ryan, which was the most popular boys name at GBMC in 2007 and #2 last year, fell to #7 in 2009.
o Four boys names on GBMC’s Top 10 list in 2009 were not among the ten most popular in either 2008 or 2007: Robert, Thomas, Joseph and Justin.
o Ranked second in 2009, Madison remains a popular choice as a girl’s name after finishing #1 in 2007 and #4 in 2007.
o After finishing third in 2008 and second in 2007, Emma fell to seventh on the 2009 list.
o Four of the most popular girl’s names nationally (Isabella #1, Ava #5, Madelyn #7 and Lily #9) didn’t finish among GBMC’s Top 10 in 2009.
A total of 4,274 babies were born at GBMC in 2009; 2,303 girls and 1,971 boys.
This was the third year that GBMC has tallied and reported the most popular names for babies. Averaging approximately 4,500 baby deliveries annually, GBMC is consistently ranked among the busiest hospitals in Maryland for births.