LVHN

What’s in a name? Well, there’s certainly something about Emma.

For the third year in a row in 2018, Emma was the most popular girls name given newborns at Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest and Lehigh Valley Hospital -Muhlenberg.

Actually Emma tied as the most popular name for girls last year with Olivia. But Emma has claimed or shared the top spot three straight years.

At press time, the trendsetting name for boys among the more than 4,500 babies born at the two hospital campuses in 2018 was Jackson with various spellings.

But unlike with girls, Jackson did not appear among the top name choices for boys either of the past two years.

Liam was the top pick by parents who had a boy in 2017 and in 2016 Mason led the list with Liam coming in second.

Interestingly, Liam does not make the top 10 on the list for 2018.

Other top choices for girls in 2018 were Isabella, Olivia, Riley, Harper and Sophia.

Other popular names for boys in 2018 were Jacob, Logan and Ethan, all high on the list in 2017 and 2016 as well.

One boys’ name that hasn’t shown up on recent lists, but jumped to the fifth spot on the LVH list in 2018 was Carson. It is speculated the name’s popularity rose in this region because of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz.

Here are the lists of the top five names picked among both boys and girls in 2018 and how they compare to the top five selected in 2017 at LVH-Cedar Crest and LVH-Muhlenberg:

Girls

2018

1. Emma 2. Isabella

3. Olivia, Riley (various spellings)

4. Harper 5. Sophia

2017

1. Emma, Olivia

2. Ava, Isabella

3. Sophia

4. Charlotte, Madison

5. Avery

Boys

2018

1. Jackson (various spellings) 2. Jacob 3. Logan 4. Ethan 5. Carson

2017

1. Liam

2. Benjamin

3. Noah

4. Mason

5. Ethan, Jacob