Emma, Aidan top 2006 baby names

What's going to happen to michael?

Will he go the way of jennifer and Amy, fading out of the spotlight(聚光灯), or will he learn a lesson from Matthew, who avoids the headlines(大字标题) but always turns in a solid, consistent performance?

Either way(总之, 两者都有), Michael is at a turning point: After more than three decades as the top name for boys, Michael is not on BabyCenter.com's top 10 list of most popular names. It slipped to No.12 on the 2005 list and has stayed there.

Most people who track trends know that children are pretty good arbiters(仲裁者) of what's hot, what's not and what's next. It turns out this all starts on the day they're born, as the names they are given often fit into larger social and cultural trends.

so, what's up with Michael, which reigned(统治, 盛行) supreme(极度的) as a boy's name for 50 years?

Linda Murray, editor-in-chief of the BabyCenter website, says too much publicity about how popular the name was led some parents to avoid it. "What's happening is that boys' names are loosening up, getting more creative, and I only expect to see more of that," she said.

Still, today's top names -- Aiden for boys and Emma for girls -- aren't as overwhelmingly(压倒性地, 不可抵抗地) popular as the top names from ageneration ago, when it seemed everyone had multiple Michaels and Jennifers or jessicas in their class.

"somebody has to be No.1, even if there are fewer of them. We're choosing from a much broader range of names than we used to," Murray said, "There's a lot of volatility of the list."

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