Not too many surprises in the top 10 baby names for boys with the most recent stats from the Social Security Administration.
It's nice to see a new entry to the top ten this year - congratulations to Alexander!
We wave goodbye to Andrew who drops out of the top ten this year, and keep our eyes on Christopher and Matthew who have both moved down in the ranks.
But seven of our boys have stayed just where they were last time!
This just goes to show how classic and enduring these names are.
Want to pick a popular boy's name? With this group, you can be almost certain they aren't going to lose their popularity any time soon.
Let's take a look at the stories behind the names, and see what's happening in the world of the most popular boys' names in the US!
Top 10 baby names for boys in the United States:
1. Jacob It's Jacob's tenth year as the number one boy's baby name in the United States. And he's also in top spot yet again as a twin name, with Jacob and Joshua leading the twin baby name rankings.
It wasn't hard to predict that Jacob could well be number one this time round... but what about next year? Can we possibly expect a shake-up in the baby name top rankings for boys? I'd love to predict a change for 2009 stats - no offence to Jacob! - but can Ethan or even Alexander strengthen their positions enough to present a serious challenge?
A similar name, Jacoby, has jumped from 620th spot to 423rd this year.
2. Michael What can we say - 38 years at number one, followed by his now tenth year at number two. Michael's here for the long haul, and he doesn't look like wanting to move any place else...
3. Ethan Ethan keeps his third place again this year. Entering the top 100 baby names in 1989, Ethan hit fifth place in 2004, again in 2005, moving up to fourth rank in 2006, then up to number three for 2007 and 2008. Slow but sure - although much faster than some of our other boy baby names!
4. Joshua Joshua likes being in fourth place, or almost anywhere within the top 10 baby names group, where he's been since 1979. No change in his ranking this time.
However - it doesn't look like Joshua's ever going to get to number one at this rate. The shorter form Josh ranks in its own right in 807th position.
5. Daniel Daniel will be happy to be in fifth place for a second year - he was here in 1990, and he's been moving around within the top twenty since 1952... so you begin to see how these top names have an incredible pedigree.
6. Alexander Hooray! A new entry to the boys' top 10 baby names, Alexander was already in the top 100 list as far back as 1880, when records began. He's popped in and out of that group over the following 100 years or so - but since 1977 has slowly been making his way up the charts, and now in a sudden burst of energy jumps five places from 11th rank last year to 6th place now.
7. Anthony Anthony's another patient plodder, moving nice and slow from 103rd place in 1880 to 7th spot in 2007 and again for 2008! Antony (without the "h") ranks at 895, Antonio at 102.
8. William Amazingly enough, good old William ranked at number 2 non-stop between 1880 and 1920. He left the top 10 baby names lists in 1976 - and recently came back in, last year moving up two places from his number ten position to eighth place, where he stays for another year this time round.
9. Christopher Here's another classic - with a presence in the top ten since 1967, and sixteen years at number two between 1979 and 1994, Christopher drops three places. He may be down - but he's not out... yet!
Similar names in the top 1000 list for 2008 include Cristofer at 829th spot, Cristopher, ranked 492, and Kristopher - at 425.
10. Matthew Matthew dropped fifth to ninth place last year, which seemed to signal that Matthew's top ten days were coming to an end. He hangs on in tenth place for 2008, but could lose his top ten ranking next time. Mathew with a single "t" comes in at 374 in the rankings.
