May 18, 2017
You're going to be meeting a lot of Noahs and Emmas in the near future.
About a week after releasing its list of the most popular baby names in the U.S. in 2016, the Social Security Administration on Thursday came out with its breakdown of last year's most popular names by state based on Social Security card registrations.
Pennsylvania's top two picks, Emma and Noah, were the same as the nation's most popular names. In fact, Emma and Noah have stolen the top spots in the U.S. for three years in a row, according to the administration's lists.
In 2016, there were 712 boys given the name "Noah" in the Keystone State, while 747 girls have "Emma" on their birth certificates.
Liam, Mason, Benjamin and James closely followed Noah while Olivia, Ava, Charlotte and Sophia were behind Emma.
While Emma and Noah may not seem like young parents in Pennsylvania were bursting with creativity when it came to giving their newborns a lifelong identity last year, there were a few names that stood out. There were 206 Jaxsons, 162 Xaviers and 148 Jayces, 191 Brooklyns, 171 Auroras, and 152 babies named Serenity born in Pennsylvania last year.
Pennsylvania did stray from the norm in 2015, however, when Mason and Olivia were dubbed the top two names.
Young parents in New Jersey had something a little different in mind. Liam and Mia were the No. 1 names for boys and girls in the Garden State in 2016, while Noah ranked No. 2 and Emma earned the No. 3, right behind Olivia.
Check out the top 10 names in Pennsylvania below in the chart from the Social Security Administration.
