The New York City Health Department released its list of most popular names of 2008 today–at last–with some pretty interesting results.  (It reminded me of the old Jennifer & Jason days–before the Social Security Administration was compiling a national list, when Pam and I used to have to contact –and sometimes plead with–the Health Departments of all fifty  states for their figures and laboriously construct our own master list–and I recall that New York State and City were always the last to straggle in.)

　　For a long time–and especially considering the City’s hip reputation–New York‘s list was surprisingly conservative, with Michael, Ashley and Emily lounging in the top spots year after year.  That changed somewhat in 2007, when Isabella and Sophia tied for Number One.  This year, the more modern Jayden joined Sophia at the head of the list, bringing New York finally and  fully into the 21st century.

　　Here are the Top Ten names for both genders:

　　GIRLS

　　SOPHIA

　　ISABELLA

　　EMILY

　　OLIVIA

　　SARAH

　　MADISON

　　ASHLEY

　　MIA

　　SAMANTHA

　　EMMA

　　BOYS

　　JAYDEN

　　DANIEL

　　MICHAEL

　　MATTHEW

　　DAVID

　　JOSHUA

　　JUSTIN

　　ANTHONY

　　CHRISTOPHER

　　ETHAN/RYAN

　　But what is most intriguing about NYC is that it’s one of the few localities to break down its findings into separate ethnic lists for Hispanics, Blacks, Whites, and Asian & Pacific Islanders, revealing their extremely wide disparities.  For example, the only group to have the overall No. 1 girls’ name, Sophia, at the top is the Asian; the other three each had different girls’ names–Ashley, Hispanic; Madison, Black; and Olivia, White.  A few somewhat unusal choices included Melanie and Genesis on the Hispanic list;  Nevaeh, Destiny and Imani on the Black; Esther (#2!), Chaya and Miriam on the White; and Tiffany, Fiona, Angela, and Vivian on the Asian.

　　The Top 5 for each group are:

　　HISPANIC

　　ASHLEY

　　ISABELLA

　　EMILY

　　BRIANNA

　　MIA

　　BLACK

　　MADISON

　　KAYLA

　　MAKAYLA

　　NEVAEH

　　JADA

　　WHITE

　　OLIVIA

　　ESTHER

　　SARAH

　　SOPHIA

　　RACHEL

　　ASIAN

　　SOPHIA

　　CHLOE

　　EMILY

　　TIFFANY

　　FIONA

　　When it comes to the boys, a more conservative picture emerges.  Four of the top names were repeats of last years.  Jayden was #1 for Hispanic and Black boys, Daniel for Caucasian and Ryan the top choice for Asian parents, who have long had a penchant for Irish names.  There weren’t very many unexpected selections here, except possibly for Angel (Hispanic), Elijah, Jeremiah and Isaiah (Black), and Eric, Ivan and Vincent (Asian).

　　The top choices for each boy group were:

　　HISPANIC

　　JAYDEN

　　JUSTIN

　　ANGEL

　　ANTHONY

　　CHRISTOPHER

　　BLACK

　　JAYDEN

　　JOSHUA

　　ELIJAH

　　JEREMIAH

　　CHRISTIAN

　　WHITE

　　DANIEL

　　JOSEPH

　　MICHAEL

　　DAVID

　　MATTHEW

　　ASIAN

　　RYAN

　　ERIC

　　JASON/MATTHEW

　　DANIEL

　　ETHAN