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Why Names Starting with A Rank #1
Why Names Starting with A Rank #1
Oct 6, 2024 10:52 PM

  Names starting with the letter A have become the most widely used in the U.S., given to over 10 percent of all babies, more than double the proportion of children who were given A names in the 1950s.

  You can peg the popularity of A names to pure fashion, and definitely, A names ranging from the classic Abigail and Alexander to the trendy Addison and Aiden have been on the rise for a couple of decades now.  While this may be part of an overall trend toward vowel names, which are up across the board while most consonant-starting names are trending down, A is up the highest.

  But there’s evidence that A names may be beneficial for your child in more substantial ways.  A study by researchers at Yale and the University of California-San Diego found that students whose names begin with the letters A and B earn better grade point averages than those whose names start with C or D.  And more law school students named Anna and Andrew tend to go to top-ranked universities like Stanford than those called Chris and Drew.

  Even more significant, another study suggests that people with names starting with A live longer – in some cases, as much as a decade longer – than those whose names start with the letter D.   Scary, but compelling if you want to give your child every advantage in life.

  A names account for  20 entries on the girls’ Top 100, up from only five (Ann, Anne, Anna, Anita, and Alice) in 1950.  They are, in order of rank with their standing in parentheses, for girls:

  

GIRL NAMES STARTING WITH A

Ava (5)

  Abigail (8)

  Addison (12)

  Alexis (13)

  Alyssa (19)

  Ashley (20)

  Anna (29)

  Allison (30)

  Avery (32)

  Aubrey (41)

  Alexa (42)

  Audrey (49)

  Arianna (52)

  Amelia (55)

  Aaliyah (63)

  Alexandra (69)

  Andrea (73)

  Autumn (81)

  Ariana (82)

  Angelina (86)

  And 12 for boys, compared with 7 (Anthony and Andrew, Alan and Allen, Arthur, Alfred and Albert)  in 1950:

  

BOY NAMES STARTING WITH A

Alexander (4)

  Anthony (10)

  Aiden (12)

  Andrew (15)

  Angel (37)

  Aaron (54)

  Adrian (58)

  Austin (63)

  Aidan (72)

  Adam (74)

  Alex (83)

  Ayden (85)

  Other fashionable A names for girls include:

  Ada

  Adelaide

  Adeline

  Alexa

  Alice

  Allegra

  Angelica

  Annabelle

  Annika

  Arabella

  Arden

  Aurora

  And stylish A names for boys include:

  Anderson

  Archer

  Asher

  Atticus

  Auden

  August

  More unusual A names for girls you might want to consider  include:

  Acacia

  Adele

  Adelia

  Agatha

  Agnes

  Anastasia

  Annalise

  Antonia

  Anya

  Araminta

  Some ideas of uncommon A names for boys:

  Abel

  Abner

  Abram

  Adlai

  Amedeo

  Amos

  Angus

  Aurelius

  Axel

  Azariah

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