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The most popular baby names of 2012

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Girls

1. Sophia
2. Emma
3. Olivia
4. Isabella
5. Ava
6. Lily
7. Zoe
8. Chloe
9. Mia
10. Madison


Boys

1. Aiden
2. Jackson
3. Ethan
4. Liam
5. Mason
6. Noah
7. Lucas
8. Jacob
9. Jayden
10. Jack


Trends:

50 Shades of Grey: Anastasia and Ana both increased in popularity, as did the name Grey. However, Christian declined significantly. One third of mums-to-be told BabyCenter that they were looking to characters from books for baby name inspiration.

Brit Invasion: Royals, Olympians and teenage boy bands leading the trend. Harry and Pippa both increased, as did four out of the five names of One Direction band members.

Funny Ladies: The rising popularity of comediennes Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Chelsea Handler, and Kristen Wiig was evident this year, with all of these first names jumping up the charts. Interestingly, the biggest climber was Betty with a gain of 54 percent. It seems US mums can't get enough of comedy legend Betty White.

The iBabies: Apple increased 15 percent for girls, while Mac was on the move for boys - climbing 12 percent this year. It also seems mums and dads like the sound of Siri!

The silver screen: In what BabyCenter describes as a fairy-tale frenzy, movie and TV characters and movie stars were on the move in a big way. The animated film Brave
along with Snow White and the Huntsman were especially big influencers. Hamish, Angus and Finn all climbed the chart for boys. For girls, it was Regina, Charlize, Belle and Ruby.

POTUS: Politics was popular in this election year, but only presidents from the past it seems. Reagan, Carter, Kennedy, Lincoln and Nixon all jumped. Not surprisingly, Mitt and Barack showed no increases.

The Final Frontier: Mums and dads looked to the heavens and beyond for inspiration this year. Sky, Star, Luna, Skylar, Heaven, Stella, and Mars all jumped dramatically.