There'sabetter-than-randomchancethatbabiesbornintheUnitedStateslastyear,2010,werenamed"Bella"or"Edward."Thosewereamongthe10mostpopulargirls'andboys'names,respectively,anditwasmorethanacoincidencethattheyarealsoleadingcharactersinthewildlypopular"Twilight"seriesofyoungadultnovelsandfilmsaboutvampires.Thechoiceofbabynames,yousee,canbesomewhatfaddish.Certainones,suchas"Tiffany"and"Justin,"whichwerepopularinthe1980s,becometherage,thenfallfromfashion.Theotherday,aVOAstaffermetalittleboy,agetwo,named"Aiden."Ourcolleaguehadneverheardthatname.Turnsout,Aidenisthemostpopularboybaby'snamethisyear,asreportedbythewebsiteBabyCenter.com.Forwhatit'sworth,Aidenwasaleadingcharacteronthehighly-ratedTVshow"SexandtheCity."ItcertainlydoesappearthatpopcultureinfluencesAmericans'choiceofbabynames.Isabella,thethird-most-populargirl'sname,forinstance,maybeanadaptationofBella,thevampireloverinthe"Twilight"movies."Jacob"isinthetop10,too.That'sthegood-lookingshape-shifterwhophasesintoawolfinthesameseries.Curiously,"Sophia"ranksfirstamongthisyear'sgirl-babynames,and"Ava"isfifth.SophiaLorenandAvaGardnerwereglamorousactressesonthesilverscreenhalfacenturyago.But,asanothercolleague,whofollowsromancenovels,toldus,"Old-fashionednames,especiallyforgirls,arebig."Weshouldpointoutthatthetop-10listofboyandgirlnamesrefersalmostexclusivelytowhite,non-Hispanicbabies.Youwon'tfindmany"Aidens"or"Masons"ontheAfrican-AmericanandLatinobaby-namelists.
