Department of Social Security keeps list of most popular baby names since 1880.

Department of Social Security keeps list of most popular baby names since 1880.

By KRISTIN DAVIS

Date published: 10/12/2004

By KRISTIN DAVIS

Paul Bibeau and wife Anne Graham started tossing around baby names shortly after their 1999 wedding.

The Spotsylvania couple always planned to have kids. They figured it was never too early to start thinking about those little letters by which the world would know their firstborn.

So when they learned Baby Bibeau--pronounced Bee-boh--was on the way last year, they already had a list to work from. And the naming process turned from casual dinner conversation to something more serious.

Bibeau and Graham tried on names "like trying on hats." They'd pick a pair of names--one for a boy, one for a girl. Then they'd scratch those and try more.

"As it gets closer and closer, you realize you have to make a decision," said Bibeau, who works as a freelance writer.

One thing they did know was that they'd keep their chosen names a secret until Baby Bibeau arrived.

"We always had the idea if you tell your family and friends too soon, suddenly everyone's a critic," Bibeau laughed.

There's a relatively new tool out there that can help expectant parents with the momentous task of naming their child.

The Department of Social Security began compiling the 1,000 most popular baby names in 1997. It releases a new list each Mother's Day, based on new Social Security card applications.

Now, the department makes available the most popular baby names since 1880.

If you've picked out a name for a soon-to-arrive little one, you can see just how common it's been lately--and the likelihood your child will share that name with countless classmates in five years.

All of this information is on the department's Web site, ssa.gov.

Jacob and Emily topped the list of most popular baby names in 2003.

Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Andrew, Joseph, Ethan, Daniel, Christopher and Anthony followed.

Girl's names that start with vowels were very common last year: Emma, Olivia, Abigail, Alexis, Ashley, Elizabeth, Isabella, Alyssa and Anna ranked among the 20 most popular.

The Web site also breaks down a name's popularity by state.

Virginia parents named their male newborns Jacob, William and Michael more than any other last year. They named their girls Emily, Emma and Madison.

Names, the Web site documents, change with the times. In the early 1900s, many Roosevelts, Teds and Teddys came into the world. In the 1940s, Franklin was at No. 127.

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Date published: 10/12/2004