Top Baby Names of 2015: Any Surprises?

By DEB BELT (Patch Staff)

The most surprising thing about the top baby names for 2015 -- Sophia and Jackson reign at the top of the list again -- may be in the subtext of names gaining popularity thanks to millennials.

According to BabyCenter.com, every elementary school in the country will continue to be filled with kids named Emma, Olivia, Madelyn, Noah, Ethan and Caden for years to come. More if you include the variations on spellings, such as Aidan or Madelaine.

The Social Security Administration released the 2014 results in August, which had many of the same names, but ranked differently. The federal list puts Noah and Emma at the top of the heap, followed by Liam and Olivia.

SEE ALSO: What were the top names of 2014, according to the Social Security Administration?

[See the list of top baby names for 2015 for boys and girls below.]

But, younger parents -- the often discussed millennials born between 1982 and 2004 -- are going to change up the list of popular names as they start families. Their inspiration for baby names isn’t reviving old family names, or dusting off Biblical references.

Instead, these digital native moms and dads are inspired by YouTube celebrities (perhaps your baby will be named Felix after Felix Kjellberg, who has 40 million followers); video game characters (think Lara Croft from Tomb Raider or Jill Valentine from Resident Evil); and drawn from young adult novels, and Instagram filters.

Yes, the choices Instagram offers to manipulate your photos have become a trending source of baby names. Top among them are Lux, Juno, Reyes, Ludwig, Amaro, Valencia, and Willow, says BabyCenter.

At least Lo-Fi, Inkwell, and X-Pro II aren’t on the list. Yet.

10 most popular girl names of 2015:

1. Sophia
2. Emma
3. Olivia
4. Ava
5. Mia
6. Isabella
7. Zoe
8. Lily
9. Emily
10. Madison

See all top 100 girls’ names

10 most popular boy names of 2015:

1. Jackson
2. Aiden
3. Liam
4. Lucas
5. Noah
6. Mason
7. Ethan
8. Caden
9. Logan
10. Jacob