**By Kelli Brady at NameFreak!**

　　Words have always been chosen as names for children. Some are virtues, some are occupations, some are pretty flowers or colors, and some are actions or structures. And no matter what reason parents have for choosing a word name, there should be consideration for the thing the word represents before placing the label on a baby.

　　So, what are the most popular word names? I have gone through the Top 1000 and found 63 girl and 58 boy word names in the 2012 list, and a few of those are for both genders. Varied spellings from the actual word are not included (i.e. Scarlet is a word, not Scarlett), but I’ve included words that may be various spellings of actual names (i.e. Conner for Conor).  Here is the list with their 2012 ranks:

　　Girls

　　Amber 260Angel 227Autumn 68Azalea 906Cadence 290Charity 934Cherish 767Crystal 384Daisy 172Destiny 113Diamond 786Ember 580Eve 558Faith 75Felicity 653Grace 21Harmony 197Harper 24Haven 432Hazel 175Heather 814Heaven 321Holly 424Hope 220Iris 282Ivy 187Jade 112Jasmine 85Jewel 809Journey 327Joy 498Juniper 883Justice 518Liberty 600Lily 16Lyric 295Marina 644Meadow 951Melody 174Miracle 416Olive 368Paisley 104Patience 854Pearl 756Piper 98Raven 543River 686Rose 261Rosemary 603Ruby 106Sage 494Sawyer 548Scarlet 401Serenity 58Sienna 241Sierra 278Sky 856Summer 176Temperance 843Trinity 93Violet 89Willow 171Winter 772

　　Boys

　　Ace 524Angel 57Archer 404Axel 160Beau 311Cannon 527Case 502Cash 270Chance 240Chase 77Christian 33Clay 723Colby 341Colt 328Conner 201Cooper 83Crew 768Deacon 679Dean 260Drew 282Fisher 831Gauge 741Grant 163Gunner 293Harper 605Hunter 45Jasper 264Junior 819Justice 519Kale 719King 256Lance 496Lane 288Legend 834Lyric 830Major 483Mark 176Mason 2Messiah 387Miles 111Noel 418Parker 80Porter 430Prince 457Ray 722Reed 372River 407Roman 159Sage 725Sawyer 147Sincere 703Sterling 684Tanner 178Titan 961Tucker 185Van 850Wade 553Will 674

　　What is your favorite word name?

　　Kelli Brady is a stay at home mom of two who needed an outlet for her name obsession. She found it at NameFreak!, a blog dedicated to a wide variety of name-related whims and fancies. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter.