Social Security Administration releases top 100 baby names in North Carolina. Is your child’s name trending?

Naming a baby is a lot of pressure. While some of us are blessed with strong family names that are passed down for generations, others are given an entirely blank canvas which can be overwhelming.

Instead of stalking playgrounds, elementary school yearbooks or kids wearing casts to see which names are trending, the Social Security Administration (SSA) does everyone a favor by sharing the most popular baby names each year.

They just released 2016 data, which you can search through here. I’m nerdy on baby names, so here’s my take.

If you’re a soon-to-be parent in Charlotte, here’s the Top 25 most popular baby names in North Carolina:

Here are some countrywide trends

Outside of North Carolina, Noah, for the 4th consecutive year, and Emma, for the 3rd consecutive year, are the most popular names.

To put this into perspective for those of us born in the 80s, Emma is the new Jessica and Noah is the new Michael.

Girl trends

“Ending in A”

• Ava – #1
• Emma – #2
• Olivia – #3
• Isabella – #4
• Sophia – #8
• Mia – #13
• Amelia – #18
• Layla – #20
• Ella – #22

“Grandma Names”

• Evelyn – #12
• Scarlett – #25
• Eleanor – #35
• Grace – #36

“Local Favorites”

• Charlotte – #4
• Caroline – #16

Boy trends

“Aydens”

• Aiden – #16 (Ayden – #73)
• Jayden – #37
• Brayden – #51
• Kayden – #69 (Kaiden – #89)

“Sons”

• Mason – #3
• Jackson – #8 (Jaxon – #31, Jaxson – #75)
• Grayson – #10 (Greyson – #68)
• Bryson – #42
• Carson – #59
• Hudson – #63
• Harrison – #90

“Local Favorites”

• Luke – #12 (alternate spelling: LUUUUKE)
• Cameron – #34
• Wells (Not yet in the top 1,000)

In full disclosure, my 3-week old son is named Wells. It was between that and BAML, and I think we made the right choice. Now I’m just praying the bank doesn’t do something crazy to tarnish the name… like pressure employees into opening accounts in customers’ names without their consent… or, you know, something unimaginable like that.