Reality TV causes some of the most popular baby names

Some of the most popular baby names are the cause of reality TV.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The traditional name, Sophia, is the new top name for girls, while Jacob is number one for boys for the 13th straight year in a row, according to the Social Security Administration list. Kourtney Kardashian, the reality TV star, gave birth to Mason in December 2009 after a much publicized pregnancy. In 2010, the name Mason jumped from number 34 to number 12. In 2011, 19,396 baby boys were named Mason, a 4,600 increase, the biggest jump for any name. This last year the name jumped 10 spots to become the second most popular name for baby boys. "It shows what we're paying attention to, what we're thinking about," said Laura Wattenberg, creator of the website babynamewizard.com. Rounding out the top five names for boys: William, Jayden, and Noah. Michael came in sixth, which is the lowest ranking since 1948. Isabella dropped to second place in 2011, after being the top girl's name for two years. Rounding out the top five for girls names are Emma, Olivia, and Ava. The Social Security Administration has provided lists of baby names dating back to 1880 on its website. Back then the top two names were John and Mary. John is now No. 27, with Mary being No. 112, which is the lowest ranking for both names. Top girl names seem to change, while top boy names are quite stable. For example, the name William has been in the top 20 most popular names for more than 100 years. Mason, an exception, entered the top 100 for the first time in 1997. Sophia first entered the top 100 in 1997. Isabella dropped off the list from 1949 to 1990. Social Security counts names that have different spellings separately. For instance, Aiden was No. 9 for boys, while Aidan was No. 107 and Aaden was No. 797.  For girls, Sophia was No. 1, while Sofia was No. 19 and Sophie was No. 51. Briella, the fastest-rising name for girls, jumped 394 spots to number 497. Briella Calafiore stars in a reality TV show about competing stylists at a beauty salon in New Jersey called Jerseylicious, and also stars in a spinoff called Glam Fairy. Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, a star in the reality TV show called Jersey Shore, is presently in the midst of a heavily publicized pregnancy. The name Snooki, has never reached the list of the top 1,000 names, however as reality TV influences more and more names for babies, the name may become as common as Jacob or Sophia.

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