Everyone Is Over the Name "Caitlyn"
The Social Security Administration just released their annual list of the top 1,000 baby names, and there's one name that's seriously dropped in popularity since 2015: Caitlyn.
Actually, the use of Caitlin, Caitlyn, Katelynn, and Kaitlynn - and probably any other variation you could dream up (K8lyn?) - dropped more than any other baby name in 2016.
This drop in popularity for the name "Caitlyn" comes a year after Caitlyn Jenner announced her new name and gender. The SSA doesn't provide any reasoning behind the drop, but Laura Wattenberg, founder of BabynameWizard.com, told the Associated Press, "It was inevitable. Caitlyn was already falling in popularity. Now it is suddenly controversial."
It's not that people are suddenly anti-transgender, Wattenberg added. It's just that parents aren't inclined to name their children after controversial public figures. "Even parents who are huge Donald Trump supporters are unlikely to name their child Donald," Wattenberg said. "In part, we just want to avoid controversy in picking names."
So what are people naming their babies? Emma was the most popular name for girls (for the third year in a row!). Olivia, Ava, Sophia, and Isabella followed. And Noah was the most popular boys' name, followed by Liam, William, Mason and James.
There were also some decidedly old-school names on the list, like Abigail and Elijah (which cracked the top 1,000 for the first time ever). That's because, to avoid over-popular names, parents end up looking way (way) back - you know, if they're not naming their children after animals or Pantone colors, like certain celebs.
If you want to see all top 10 names for both genders (and coo at some adorable babies lolling around), check out the SSA's video announcement:
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