THE TOP BABY names in America last year were… Jacob and Sophia.

Sophia has unseated Isabella from the top spot after a tw0-year reign. Jacob, astonishingly, has been the most popular boys’ name in the States for 13 years in a row.

The figures released by the Social Security Administration (SSA) show that Americans are influenced by celebrity baby names. Mason has leaped to second place behind Jacob with the SSA attributing the rise to TV reality star Kourtney Kardashian’s son.

“Mason, a relatively popular name since the 1990s, had never cracked the top 25 until 2010, when it hit number 12,” said the SSA statement.

The Central Statistics Office in Ireland has not yet released the top names for 2011 – but the 2010 names show that the top girls’ name, Sophie, is rather similar to the US version, Sophia.

There are similarities between the Irish and American lists.  Emma takes the number three spot on both the US and Irish lists. Other names that are on both lists are Emily, Ava and Chloe.

The boys’ list also shows similarities – Daniel comes in at third place on the Irish list but is the tenth most popular name in the US. Alex is in eighth place in Ireland, while ‘Alexander’ is also eighth in the US.

The SSA also look at the changing trends in baby names and state that they are pleased that Elvis has made it back on the list – it’s in the top 1000.

Social Security Commissioner Michael J Astrue said “Elvis is back where he belongs, in the top 1000. Last year I was all shook up when Elvis dropped way down below the top 1000, but Elvis is back into the promised land of the top 1000, and that’s all right.”

Elvis has been spotted at number 904 on the list. Sadly, it does not make an appearance on the Irish list.

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