What's in a name?

Fourteen years ago today, when my husband and I named our newborn baby girl Mia, we thought we'd found the perfect name – unusual enough to be interesting with an international enough flair that she could be from almost  anywhere in the world.

Plus, we thought it was beautiful -- just like her sweet face. Naturally, I looked up Social Security’s most popular baby names to make sure it wasn’t on the Top 10 – I didn’t want her to be one of five Mias in her class. When we were considering names, we had already been warned by the nurse not to choose Hannah because EVERY baby girl that year was going to be a Hannah. (In fact, Hannah was No. 5 that year and reached No. 2 for three years running after that).

In 1996, the year before she was born, Mia’s name was safely sitting at 180 out 1,000 – perfect. Not so unusual to be ridiculed and not too common either.

Flash forward 14 years and the name Mia has cracked the Top 10 baby names nationwide for the last two years and is No. 7 in New Jersey. Who knew we’d be trendsetters?

I’d noticed during the last couple of years that I’d met a lot of babies named Mia. Now I know it wasn’t just my imagination.

The Social Security office released the most popular baby names list Friday.

Michael and Isabella rule the crib this year in New Jersey.

Nationwide, Michael is the third most popular baby name for boys while Jacob is the top choice and has been on the top 10 list for 12 years. Isabella tops the charts both in New Jersey and nationally as the most popular name for baby girls.

According to the Social Security Administration, it seems the MTV show "Teen Mom" and the "Twilight" movies inspired many a parent when it came to naming their babies in 2010. This year’s winners for biggest jump in popularity in the Top 500 are Maci and Bentley. Maci Bookout and her infant son, Bentley, were the focus of the show “Teen Mom” and its predecessor, “16 and Pregnant."

It's the second year in a row for the baby name craze inspired by the “Twilight” novels and movies, the agency reports. The second fastest riser on the national boys’ list is Kellan, the name of actor Kellan Lutz, best known for playing Emmett Cullen in the “Twilight” series. (Kellan jumped from 626 to 366.)

Names like Isabella, Ava, and Chloe, which had disappeared almost completely from the top 1,000 girls' names, have surged in popularity in recent years, which suggests a trend in naming newborn girls after their grandmothers, the administration reports. 

Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue  said he was dismayed to discover that Elvis has left the building, slipping out of the top 1,000 names for the first time since 1954. 

So if you're looking for baby names --- whether to be trendy or to stay away from trends, here's the list. But you can never know what's going to be popular next year.

 Top 10 baby names in NJ for 2010:

Rank

Boy Name

Number of
boys born

Girl name

Number of
girls born

1

Michael

703

Isabella

748

2

Ryan

625

Sophia

637

3

Jayden

611

Olivia

519

4

Anthony

608

Ava

478

5

Joseph

594

Emily

450

6

Daniel

592

Emma

439

7

Matthew

583

Mia

386

8

Jacob

547

Abigail

377

9

Christopher

523

Madison

358

10

Nicholas

505

Samantha

320

Top 10 baby names nationwide for 2010:

Rank

Boy name

Girl name

1

Jacob

Isabella

2

Ethan

Sophia

3

Michael

Emma

4

Jayden

Olivia

5

William

Ava

6

Alexander

Emily

7

Noah

Abigail

8

Daniel

Madison

9

Aiden

Chloe

10

Anthony

Mia

To see the top 100 names in New Jersey or any state, click here.