Boys
Washington U.S.
Jacob Jacob
Alexander Ethan
Daniel Michael
William Jayden
Ethan William
Girls
Washington U.S.
Sophia Isabella
Olivia Sophia
Isabella Emma
Emma Olivia
Ava Ava
When it comes to diapers, bottles and cooing, Jacob and Sophia ruled the state in 2010.
More Washington parents in 2010 named their little ones Jacob and Sophia than any other name, according to data compiled by the Washington State Department of Health.
Of the 44,247 baby boys born in 2010, 416 were given the name Jacob. The other top boy names in the state that year were Alexander, Daniel, William and Ethan.
The name Jacob was popular across the country, taking the top spot in the U.S. Jacob has held the No. 1 spot in the country for the last decade. In Washington, it was the top choice this decade in every year but three, according to the health department.
As for the girls, 474 of the 42,233 born in Washington in
2010 were named Sophia. In 2010, the top girl names in the state included Olivia, Isabella, Emma and Ava.
When it comes to girls, the most popular names in Washington change every couple of years. Sophia moved up on the list, into the top four, beginning in 2007, according to the department of health.
Some Clark County parents gave their new bundles of joy top names, whether knowingly or not.
Vancouver residents Erin Lark and Sam Siciliano wanted to give their daughter a more classic name. They agreed on Ava, who was born April 8, 2010.
Lark was surprised to learn Ava was the fifth-most-popular name in the state and country in 2010.
“I knew that a lot of older names had regained some popularity, but I had no idea,” Lark said. “I had thought originally that it was a more unique name.”
Lark and Siciliano have math and science backgrounds — she teaches both subjects at Wy’east Middle School — which also played a role in the naming.
Ava is a nice, symmetrical name that also happens to be a palindrome, which means it reads the same forward or backward.
“It’s short and sweet and easy to spell,” Lark said.
Vancouver parents Jennifer and Ryan Fanning were surprised to learn their little Olivia had the second-most-popular name in the state.
“We had no idea when we picked it that it was popular,” Jennifer Fanning said.
Several years ago, before the couple was married, the Fannings came up with a baby name for their future son: Hudson Bradley. So when a 20-week pregnant Jennifer found out she and her husband were having a girl, they turned to baby name books for suggestions.
They started with the “A” names and worked their way through the alphabet, looking for a first name to pair with the middle name, Rose.
“As soon as we found Olivia, we knew that was it,” she said.
Olivia, who was born Dec. 9, 2010, isn’t the only one in the family with a common name. Her parents — Jennifer and Ryan — both grew up sharing their first names with several other kids in their classrooms.
“We don’t look at it as a negative at all,” Fanning said. “We love the name and think it’s cool that other people do, too.”
Both mothers appreciated that classic names, like Olivia and Ava, appear to be making a comeback.
“I’m happy that I chose it,” Lark said. “With the trend going to the older, more classic names, maybe it’ll create a new era of sophistication.
