Hyperlocal is a word you hear a lot today. There’s hyperlocal news and hyperlocal food, hyperlocal weather and hyperlocal — yeah, baby names. 　　What are the name trends where you live? Which popular names ring through every playground and crowd every class list? What kinds of names are considered cool,...

　　Popular baby names aren’t always replaced at the top by similar names, though sometimes it feels that way.  Emily moves down, Emma moves up.  Jason slips, while Jacob and Mason rise. 　　With the new US popularity list due out in less than a month, we thought it would be fun...

　　SEE THE WINNERS BELOW!!! 　　The official list of U.S. Most Popular Names 2012 will be revealed later this week — Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, according to the Social Security press office —  and so in advance of that announcement, we’re asking YOU to predict: 　　What do you think will...

　　The most popular baby names of 2012 are officially here, with Sophia and Jacob holding onto their Number 1 spots. 　　Jacob remains the most popular name for boys for the 14th year in a row.  An Old Testament name that means “supplanter” and a cousin of James, Jacob has been in the Top Ten for nearly two decades. 　　Sophia,...

　　Kelli Brady, creator of NameFreak!, combined spelling variations to come up with the real top 50 names on the new US popularity list. Her results show some names vastly more popular than it seems and a new Number 1 _and Number 2 for boys._ 　　Some names might actually be more...

　　Here, with the kind permission of  writer Jonathan Anker, we’re reprinting his humorous take on the possible future effects of  megapopular names; it appeared first on the hlntv.com site. 　　Dear Jacob and Sophia, 　　You should know that your mother and I spent the better part of both her pregnancies agonizing over...

　　The big news in baby names this week has been the Most Popular Names 2012: Top 1, Top 10, Top 100, Top 1000. 　　But swimming just below the surface — not quite on the radar but not truly off, either — are dozens of more unusual baby names poised to...

　　By Linda Rosenkrantz 　　Every year, a small number of new names manages to move onto the Top 1000 list for the first time ever.  Sometimes this marks the beginning of a climb up the ladder, other times it’s a name that will linger in the nether regions, and sometimes it...

　　By Pamela Redmond Satran 　　There’s a new generation of names popular in Paris, all fresh and chic-sounding beyond the French borders.  Will they translate to the English-speaking world?  The Francophiles among us might like to try. 　　These names are widely used in contemporary France and might make exotic choices for...

　　By Angela Mastrodonato of Upswing Baby Names 　　Reminiscent of fifties doo-wop songs and southern cotillions, combo names are finding their way back to baby name lists after a decades-long absence. 　　Combo names are two existing names combined to create one. They can also be called “smoosh names” or “mash-up names”...

　　By Kelli Brady at NameFreak! 　　The 2012 Popular Baby Names list was released in May to a lot of excited name enthusiasts. Of course we were all interested in the Top 10 and Top 100, but I also loved seeing what fell out of and what made its way into the...

　　By Brooke Cussans of Baby Name Pondering 　　It often feels like Twilight made a huge impact on the naming scene. Isabella and Jacob may have been top ten names before the first book was published, but the series possibly enabled them to hold onto their top positions longer than they...

　　The Nameberry Nine by Abby Sandel 　　Let’s talk about vowels. 　　The letter A is wildly popular, #1 for girls and #2 for boys according to the most recent analysis at Nancy’s Baby Names. As I looked through this week’s birth announcements and baby name news, it seemed like the letter...