If you're a future parent whose finished What to Expect When You're Expecting but haven't picked a name for your new arrival, you may want to puruse the Social Security Administration's popular baby names website.  That's right, for those who think government websites are comprised of humdrum data sets organized by meandering links of indiscernible govspeak, prepare to be awed.

At www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames, you can find the most popular baby names for males and females for any year dating back to 1880.  In 2007, the most popular names were Jacob, Michael, and Ethan for boys, and Emily, Isabella, and Emma for girls. 

Apparently, Emily has topped the list since 1996 while Jacob has done so since 1999.  And the name Elizabeth returned to the top ten after a two year absence.

In addition to a list of the 1,000 most popular boys’ and girls’ names for 2007, the website has a list of the top 100 names for twins born in 2007.  Jacob and Joshua are again the most popular twin’s names.

                   Most Popular Names in 2007 

For reasons unknown, SSA reported that American parents have recently become infatuated by names for boys that rhyme with the word “maiden.”  These names include:  Jayden (No. 18); Aiden (No. 27); Aidan (No. 54); Jaden (No. 76); Caden (No. 92); Kaden (No. 98); Ayden (No.102); Braden (No.156); Cayden (No.175); Jaiden (No.191); Kaiden (No. 220); and Aden (No. 264).

The Social Security Administration started compiling baby name lists in 1997 and grant users the ability to sort through names by decade, sex, and time period.  Soon, the site will grant users the ability to search for name popularity by state.

So just what were the hot names of 1880? With a few clicks, the following list was created:

Ok, a few names may have lost favor with Americans, but for the most part, our tastes have remained fairly constant over the years.  And weather you think the database is a nice to have resource or an example of government waste, the resource is publicly accessible, interesting, and easy to use.  If only the same were true of all government sites...