Top 101 Most Popular Baby Boy and Girl Names Released

As a parent, I struggled to find names for my children that were traditional yet not commonplace, and vetted them for potential for insulting rhymes.

I now have an Oliver and an Autumn.

At the time, Oliver was rare in my circles, and I figured my son would walk through life with a fairly unique name. But, now there's a half dozen other children named Oliver that I know.

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration's list of most popular baby names in Iowa, Oliver didn't crack the list, at least in recent years, until 2009 when it appeared at 83.

In the latest comes in as the 43rd most popular name here, and Autumn is the 46th most popular. Oliver didn't even make the list in recent years until 2009 when it appeared at 83.

Strangely, I haven't come across many other Autumns, although her name has consistently been in the top 100 baby names over the years.

But, enough about me.

Carter, Mason, Owen, Noah and Jacob are the latest most popular boy names, at least as of 2011 which is the latest report from the U.S. Social Security Administration. Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Ava and Addison are the most popular girl names.

Below is the full list of 101 most popular baby names in Iowa as of 2011. And, the Des Moines Register has a nifty database where you can explore the most popular baby names for the past 100 years.

Rank Male name Number of
males Female name Number of
females 1 Carter 195 Emma 202 2 Mason 185 Olivia 192 3 Owen 170 Sophia 187 4 Noah 167 Ava 174 5 Jacob 160 Addison 142 6 William 158 Ella 122 7 Jackson 154 Isabella 119 8 Ethan 152 Abigail 118 9 Liam 147 Natalie 118 10 Logan 145 Avery 115 11 Gavin 144 Chloe 115 12 Aiden 142 Brooklyn 109 13 Benjamin 137 Aubrey 108 14 Landon 136 Emily 101 15 Elijah 129 Grace 100 16 Alexander 127 Lily 98 17 Samuel 118 Elizabeth 96 18 Hayden 117 Harper 94 19 Lucas 114 Madison 93 20 Caleb 111 Zoey 92 21 Gabriel 111 Lillian 88 22 Levi 109 Hannah 87 23 Andrew 108 Alexis 85 24 Wyatt 106 Claire 83 25 James 105 Amelia 81 26 Cooper 104 Mia 78 27 Bentley 103 Charlotte 71 28 Henry 100 Evelyn 71 29 Brody 99 Kaylee 70 30 Isaac 98 Lauren 68 31 Parker 97 Kinley 65 32 Blake 93 Anna 64 33 Hunter 92 Sophie 62 34 Brayden 91 Piper 61 35 Jack 91 Ellie 60 36 Tyler 91 Nevaeh 60 37 Evan 90 Peyton 60 38 Daniel 87 Layla 59 39 Colton 85 Lydia 59 40 Easton 83 Samantha 59 41 Jace 83 Hailey 58 42 Michael 83 Leah 56 43 Oliver 83 Stella 54 44 Eli 82 Sydney 53 45 Connor 79 Audrey 51 46 Jayden 79 Autumn 51 47 Matthew 79 Brynn 50 48 Carson 78 Lucy 50 49 Ryan 76 Payton 50 50 Joseph 75 Taylor 50 51 Chase 73 Allison 49 52 Luke 72 Aubree 49 53 Nolan 72 Bailey 49 54 Nathan 71 Riley 49 55 Austin 69 Aaliyah 48 56 Cole 69 Madelyn 48 57 Isaiah 69 Mya 48 58 Jonathan 69 Faith 46 59 Nicholas 69 Paige 46 60 Zachary 69 Alyssa 45 61 Anthony 67 Gabriella 45 62 Jaxon 67 Kylie 45 63 David 66 Nora 44 64 John 66 Maci 43 65 Charles 64 Molly 43 66 Cameron 63 Sofia 43 67 Kaden 63 Khloe 42 68 Dylan 61 Hadley 41 69 Hudson 61 Hayden 41 70 Jaxson 60 Bella 40 71 Lincoln 60 Julia 40 72 Thomas 59 Reese 40 73 Christopher 58 Katelyn 39 74 Ryder 58 Madeline 39 75 Drake 57 Lilly 38 76 Miles 57 Scarlett 38 77 Aaron 55 Alivia 37 78 Grant 54 Brielle 37 79 Jordan 54 Mackenzie 37 80 Joshua 54 Rylee 37 81 Max 52 Savannah 37 82 Asher 51 Annabelle 36 83 Tate 51 Arianna 36 84 Alex 49 Eva 36 85 Maxwell 49 Jocelyn 36 86 Riley 49 Alexa 35 87 Caden 48 Sarah 35 88 Camden 48 Serenity 35 89 Colin 48 Alaina 34 90 Grayson 48 Cora 34 91 Brady 47 Quinn 34 92 Ryker 47 Ruby 34 93 Xavier 47 Violet 34 94 Bryson 46 Willow 34 95 Ashton 45 Carly 33 96 Sawyer 45 Kennedy 33 97 Adrian 44 Lyla 33 98 Braxton 44 Macy 33 99 Gage 43 Makenna 33 100 Ayden 42 Brianna 32 101 Robert 42 Isabelle 32
    Morgan 32
    Paisley 32

Here's some resources for you new parents:

Kidworks

Birthright

Tiers For Joy

Hands On Financial Advice: Budgeting for Baby

Bringing Home Baby

It's All About the Babies (Blog)