Top Ten Baby Names In NYC

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene just published their annual list of the most popular baby names in the city; a perfect data set to visualize. This line chart looks at the popularity of 2008's top names over time by race. Jayden is this year’s most popular male name although it was far from the most popular name among White or Asian parents.

The most interesting part of this data set to me is the overall trend away from the most popular names. Parents are increasingly choosing creative or original names for their children. In 1991, the most popular male name was Michael, with almost 1,346 namings. In 2008, Jayden only needed 872 namings to claim the top spot. Of course, there are perennial favorites: Matthew has held steady at about 800 namings for the past 20 years.