by Rosetta Taylor

Created on: January 06, 2010   Last Updated: June 08, 2011

The US Social Security Administration publishes a list of the most popular baby names registered each year. The latest available data is for the year 2010. Here are the Top Ten girls’ names (starting with ‘1’ as the most popular) and their meanings.

1. Isabella - 'God is my oath' or 'God is my abundance'

Although the ending ‘bella’ suggests a link to the word ‘beautiful’ (in Latin and Italian) it appears that ‘Isabella’ is an Italian variant of the originally Hebrew name ‘Elisheva’. In Hebrew, ‘Eli’ means ‘God’ and ‘sheva’ means either ‘oath’ or ‘sustenance’ or ‘abundance’, thus giving Isabella the meaning ‘My God is my oath’ or ‘My God is my sustenance’ or ‘My God is abundance’. Isabella of Castile was the queen of Spain in the late 15th century, and the patron of explorer Christopher Columbus.

2. Sophia - 'wisdom'

‘Sophia’ is an alternative spelling of ‘sofia’, the Greek word for ‘wisdom’. The Italian actress Sophia Loren is arguably the world’s most famous Sophia.

3. Emma - 'complete', 'universal'

The girl’s name ‘Emma’ is a shortened version of Old German names beginning with the word ‘ermen’, for example ‘Ermentrude’. It means ‘universal’, ‘whole’, entire’, ‘complete’. It became common in England from the 12th century, following the Norman Conquest, and enjoyed a revival in the early 19th century when the novelist Jane Austen used the name for her heroine Emma Woodhouse in the classic novel ‘Emma’. It is a name borne by Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson and the actress Emma Watson, who plays the character Hermione in the Harry Potter movies.

4. Olivia - 'olive tree' or 'ancestor'

The first recorded occurrence of the female name ‘Olivia’ is in Shakespeare’s play ‘Twelfth Night’. It is probably derived from the Latin ‘oliva’, meaning ‘an olive tree’. Alternatively, it may be a feminization of the name ‘Oliver’, a version of the Old French name ‘Olivier’, also from the Latin for olive tree. A third alternative connects it with the Old Norse word ‘olafr’, which means

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>