The Health Departments and Population Bureaus have released the latest figures on popular baby names in New York City and Israel; and there are several similarities.

In Israel, the most popular baby names for boys were:
MUHAMMED, NOAH, DAVID, Ori, Ariel, EITAN, YOSSEF, Itay, Yonatan, and DANIEL.

In NYC, the most popular baby names for boys were:
ETHAN, Liam, NOAH, Jacob. Jayden, Matthew, DAVID, DANIEL, Dylan, and Aiden.
Plus Ethan and Aiden sound close to Israel’s EITAN
While Muhammed did not make the top ten in NYC, it did make the top five among children that were segmented as non white/black/latino.
With regard to cultural differences, the top names among families that identify as Latinx were: Liam, Dylan, and Ethan
The top names among families that identify as White included: DAVID, Jacob, JOSEPH, Moshe, Benjamin, DANIEL, Samuel, and Jacob.

Among girls, In Israel, the most popular baby names were:
Noa, Tamar, Maya, Avigail, Talya, Adel, Shira, AYALA, Yael, and SARAH

For the same period in NYC, the most popular baby names for cisgender girls were:
Olivia, Sophia, Emma, Mia, Isabella, Leah, Emily, Ava, Chloe, and Madison

Among girls that were identified as Latina, Abigail (similar to Israel’s Avigail) was a top ten name, as was Isabella.
Among girls that were identified as Black, Aaliyah was a top ten name, as was Madison.
The top names among NYC families that identify as White included: Emma, Leah, SARAH, Esther, Rachel, Miriam, Chaya, and Ava

In 2015, in New York State, 320 newborns were named Moshe, 231 named Chaya, 233 named Genesis, 193 named Rivka, and 1,388 named Liam. In New Jersey, there were 135 Moshe’s, 103 named Chaim, 88 named Chana, and 87 named Rivka. In California, over 500 girls were name NEVAEH (Heaven backwards), making it a top name. It was not as popular on the East Coast.

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