Top Baby Names
Two of Nova Scotia's favourite baby names for 1999 are making their second consecutive appearance at the head of the yearly top 20 list. Emily and Matthew have been identified as last year's top names for a girl and boy.
Taking a look back at the past century and beyond, many of the names on the list have been popular for hundreds of years. Most can be traced back to classical sources like the Bible, Middle English and pop culture. This is likely why the name Matthew, Hebrew for gift of God, has topped the list for two years, and was popular throughout the 1990s, according to Business and Consumer Services' Vital Statistics office.
Liz Crowley Meagher, Vital Statistics manager, said the reason these names are so popular with parents is purely speculation.
"Sometimes it's easy to spot a popular name if it came from a hit movie or a top-selling book," said Ms. Meagher.
Take for example the 32 boys named Elvis, or the 35 called Rocky, that popped up on lists over the years.
"You might see trends in biblical names," added Ms. Meagher. "But sometimes it's just a mystery."
Also popular with moms and dads this past year were Nicholas, Ryan, Jacob and Cameron for boys, and Emma, Hannah, Taylor and Madison for girls. Interestingly, Morgan drops off the 1998 boys' list only to reappear on this year's list of girls' names.
For the first time since 1925, the earliest year with a popular name list, John has dropped from the top 20. However, with little surprise, John and Mary have been crowned the most popular names for the last century.
Soon-to-be parents looking to name their little bundle can try one of the newcomers to the top 20 including Logan or Liam for a boy, or Lauren, Jenna or Alyssa for a girl.
There were 4,689 boys and 4,564 girls born in Nova Scotia last year, for a total of 9,253 births. Total births have declined steadily since a high of 19,832 in 1962.
NOTE: The following are the top 20 names for 1999.
Boys No. Girls No. Matthew 112 Emily 119 Nicholas 109 Emma 117 Ryan 96 Hannah 88 Jacob 89 Taylor 82 Joshua 80 Madison 67 Cameron 79 Jessica 62 Tyler 74 Sarah 61 Kyle 66 Olivia 57 Logan 64 Rebecca 50 Noah 64 Megan 49 William 63 Samantha 47 Brandon 62 Lauren 43 Alexander 60 MacKenzie 43 Austin 59 Morgan 43 Liam 58 Julia 41 Christopher 56 Haley 37 Justin 55 Brianna 36 Benjamin 54 Jenna 36 Michael 54 Alyssa 34 Zachary 54 Victoria 34