Olivia, Noah, make their mark as Pittsburgh’s Top Baby Names for 2012
Welcome to the world, all you Olivias, Noahs, Addisons and Declans! The most popular baby names for 2012 at West Penn Allegheny Health System run the gamut of the literary, the Biblical, the distinguished-sounding, the traditional and those that reflect parental creativity.
The most popular names among the 3,400 babies born at West Penn Hospital and Forbes Regional Hospital through November 2012 are:
Girls:
- Olivia
- Sophia
- Emma
- Aubrey/Aubree
- Isabella
- Madison
- Lily/Lilly
- Abigail
- Addison
- (tie) Victoria, Ava
Boys:
- Noah
- Jackson/Jaxon
- Mason
- Brayden/Braden
- Michael
- Owen
- Gavin
- Elijah
- (tie) Alexander, Colton, Dylan, Lucas
- (tie) Declan, Logan
Today’s parents want their child to stand out in the crowd. West Penn Allegheny parents came up with about 700 different girls’ names and 600 different boys’ names, and many of them had no duplicate. Sometimes, parents created their own name, and often they added a creative spelling or flourish to an old name.
“A” should be a popular ladies’ monogram in the coming years. More than 100 of the 700 girls’ names given in 2012 started with the letter “A.”
Pittsburgh parents stayed in tune with national trends. A recent survey by Baby Center found Sophia, Emma and Olivia ranked as the top three girls’ names nationwide, while Aiden, Jackson and Ethan were the top three boys’ names. Aiden and Ethan were also popular in Pittsburgh but didn’t quite crack the top 10.
And if you’re looking to catch on to a trend in the early stages, consider these up-and-coming names:
Girls:
- Aaliyah (also spelled Aleah)
- Harper
- London
- Kennedy
Boys:
- Wyatt
- Sawyer
- Myles
- Lincoln
