These Are the Most Popular Baby Names of 2015

Updated on 5/6/2016 at 1:05 PM

POPSUGAR Photography

There will continue to be a lot of Emmas and Noahs on the playground according to the Social Security Administration. The department just released its annual list of the most popular baby names in the U.S. from the previous year, and for the second year in a row, those two topped the list.

In fact, the top three girls' names and the top six boys' names remained the same as the previous year, and the 2015 top 10 list fluctuated less than in any year of the past decade. Only one new name broke through the top 10 on each list — Harper replaced Madison for girls and Benjamin overtook Daniel on the boys' side.

The top 10 baby names of 2015, with the number of places each name has shifted compared with the previous year, are:

Girls

Emma =
Olivia =
Sophia =
Ava +1
Isabella -1
Mia =
Abigail +1
Emily -1
Charlotte +1
Harper +1

Boys

Noah =
Liam =
Mason =
Jacob =
William =
Ethan =
James +2
Alexander =
Michael -2
Benjamin +2

Late last year, BabyCenter released its own annual list of the most popular baby names – data that comes from more than 340,000 parents who shared their baby's name with the site that past year.

The top names on their list varied a bit from the Social Security Administration's, but what made the cut should come as no surprise to those who follow BabyCenter — Sophia, which boasts a variety of spelling options and multiethnic appeal, lead the girls for the sixth year in a row, and Jackson topped the boys' list for the third straight year. Like with the Social Security department's findings, the only newbie was Madison.

BabyCenter's top 10 baby names of 2015 are:

Girls

Sophia
Emma
Olivia
Ava
Mia
Isabella
Zoe
Lily
Emily
Madison

Boys

Jackson
Aiden
Liam
Lucas
Noah
Mason
Ethan
Caden
Logan
Jacob

Read on to see what five trends BabyCenter says are influencing parents the most this year in naming decisions. (Hint: it's clear millennial moms take their Instagram feeds seriously!)

Empire

Pop culture and television have long been a source of inspiration for baby names (it's no coincidence that Olivia has been a top name ever since Scandal — and Olivia Pope — hit the small screen. This year, it appears that the hit drama Empire is causing names like Lyon, Hakeem, and Dre — up 77 percent — to rise in popularity. Although Cookie hasn't broken through, Lucious entered BabyCenter's database for the first time in years.

Gender Neutrality

According to BabyCenter, gender-neutral names — those that work well for both boys and girls — are one of the biggest trends of 2015. The name Wyatt is up 84 percent for girls, Piper is up 61 percent for boys, and Lincoln and Carson are rising steadily for both boys and girls.

Instagram

It shouldn't come as a shock that social media has an influence on today's young parents, but who knew the popular photo-sharing app would be such a direct source of potential baby names? Instagram's filters are now doubling as proper nouns, with Lux up 75 percent, Ludwig up 42 percent, Valencia up 26 percent, Juno up 30 percent, and Amaro up 26 percent. Even Willow, Reyes, Hudson, and Kelvin are turning out to be more than just attractive photo filters this year.

Royalty

It's one thing to name your newborn George or Charlotte, but today's parents are taking their obsession with royals one step further with a more literal take. Names like Princess, Tiara, Duchess, and King are on the rise, and even the name Royalty is up nearly 90 percent. Reign, up 54 percent, might continue to rise now that Kourtney Kardashian has given the moniker to her third child.

Astronomy

When looking for baby names this past year, parents looked up to the sky for answers. There's a clear celestial trend happening, with planets like Venus and Jupiter seeing major spikes. Other takes, like Sunny – which is up 43 percent for boys and 18 percent for girls – and Stella, meaning star, are on the rise.