New Zealand native Anna Hamilton parses the recently released Kiwi name statistics and analyzes what’s up and down, in and out, including such surprise (to us) hits as Aria, Ayla, Anahera, Manaia, and Sione..

　　BOYS

　　Looking first at the boys: The big news here is that after a five-year reign, Jack was topped by Liam, Jack’s reign lasting one year less than his predecessor Joshua.  Liam, who placed seventh in 2009 (and also 2008) jumped up to the top, followed at second place by James, who has been in the Top 10 for the last eleven year, and at third is Oliver, who joined the Top 5 in 2009. Jack slips down to spot four, while William remains steady at five; Joshua and Samuel lose, but still stay within the Top 10.  Leaving the Top 10 are Thomas and Daniel, who fall to 11th and 16th respectively.  Taking their places are Jacob, jumping seven spots to 8th, and Lucas up one to get the last spot.

　　The biggest rises amongst the boys in 2010 were: Mason (Number 32), with a mighty leap of 22 spots, Brooklyn (#79), up 20, Ryder (#67) up 19 along with Edward (now #72) and then Quinn, bounding 16 places to Number 63, and Zachary (#49) up 14.

　　The biggest drops were nicknames Sam (#77) and Ben (#99), down 21 and 19 respectively.  Sebastian (#87) and Joel (#81) followed suit, down 16 each. Felix dropped down more than a dozen places–fifteen in fact– to number 98, just hanging in on the Top 100.  Gabriel (#95), Aidan (#76) and Jesse (#60) all fell 14 spots, with the traditionally spelled Aidan seven spots under the variation Aiden.

　　Leaving the Top 100 were: Jamie, Hamish, Callum, Hayden, Cole, Zion, Andrew, Roman, Troy, Austin, Tristan, Christopher and Hugo.

　　Either entering or reentering the Top 100 were: Eli (new), Aaron (previously there from 1999 to 2008), Marcus (2002 and 2008), Archie (2008), Dominic (2000-2008), Patrick (1999-2007), Taylor (1999-2003 and 2005-2007), Fletcher (new), Robert (1999-2008), Sione (2000), Lewis (1999 and 2001), Leon (new) and Maxwell (new).

　　GIRLS

　　On the girls’ side, Sophie reclaimed her spot at the top for the third year running, beating out Olivia at second place and Ruby at third.  Charlotte jumps up four spots to Number 4, her highest placing since she was the winner in 2006. Isabella is knocked back one to fifth place, whilst Lily goes up two to Number 6, Ella is in seventh, dropping two places from her 2009 standing.  Knocked out of the Top 10 is Amelia, whose short stay lasted only one year, whilst Chloe stepped up to take her place gaining three spots to Number 8.  Emily takes Number 9, leaving just enough room for Emma, who has featured in the Top 10 since 1999.

　　If you’re wanting to steer clear of a fast-moving girl’s name, don’t choose one starting with A–six out of the nine top risers began with the first letter of the alphabet! Annabelle jumped an amazing 42 places to reach Number 51, while Scarlett also made an impressive leap of 29 to sit at Number 43. Ayla moved from the bottom to rest comfortably at 77, a rise of 23. Not far behind were Ashley, up 20 and Alexis, up 19.  Summer followed suit jumping 18 to Number 54, Aria moved up 16, Riley gained 14 and Abigail skipped a dozen plus one.

　　Imogen, after diving into the bottom of 2009, plummeted 44 places to 56th. Caitlin (#62) is finally on the way down, losing 23 places, as is her sister Kate dropping 15 to rest at Number 53, though Katie is holding at Number 54. Amy and Anna fell 22 and 18 places, but still sit just within the top 70. Tessa lost 16 places and joins Matilda on a downward turn.

　　Leaving the top 100 are: Bailey, Brooklyn, Abby, Lauren, Alexandra, Anahera, Manaia, Madeline & Madeleine, Violet, Maria and Ariana.

　　Returning are: Victoria (1999-2005, 2007-2008), Danielle (1999-2008), Harmony (2003-2008), Maya (2003-2008) and Lucia (2008). And making their debuts this year: Olive (#81), Willow (#83), Mila (#84), Layla (#87), Pippa (#95), Payton (#96) and Ivy (#99).

　　Here is the link to the NZ government statistics: http://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Services-Births-Deaths-and-Marriages-Most-Popular-Male-and-Female-First-Names

　　Anna, who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, has been a name fan from a very young age, accumulating a collection of more than eighty name books.  You can check out her blog at: http://babynamelover.wordpress.com/.