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

　　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

　　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