The Social Security Administration this week announced the most popular baby names in Alabama for 2015. Ava and William topped the list.

 

The top five boys and girls names for 2015 in Alabama were:

Boys

1. William (No. 5 in nation)

2. James (No. 7 in nation)

3. John

4. Mason (No. 3 in nation)

5. Elijah

Noah was the top male name in the nation in 2015, followed by Liam, Mason, Jacob, William, Ethan, James, Alexander, Michael and Benjamin.

 

Girls

1. Ava (No. 4 in the nation)

2. Emma (No. 1 in the nation)

3. Olivia (No. 2 in the nation)

4. Harper (No. 10 in the nation)

5. Elizabeth

Top female names nationwide were Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Ava, Isabella, Mia, Abigail, Emily, Charlotte and Harper.

 

The agency began compiling the baby name list in 1997, with names dating back to 1880. At the time of a child’s birth, parents supply the name to the agency when applying for a child’s Social Security card, thus making Social Security America’s source for the most popular baby names.

Each year, the list reveals the effect of pop-culture on naming trends. This year’s winners for biggest jump in popularity in the Top 1,000 are Alaia and Riaan.

Alaia jumped 2,012 spots on the girls’ side to number 664, from number 2,676 in 2014. Perhaps this can be attributed to high fashion designer Azzedine Alaia, or maybe it is because of Alaia Baldwin, the model/daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin.

Riaan increased 1,360 spots for the boys, from number 2,286 in 2014 to number 926. Of Indian origin, it is also the name of the young son of a well-known Bollywood actor, Riteish Deshmukh.

The second fastest riser for girls was Meilani. If you have ever watched MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” and maybe even if you haven’t, you’ve heard of Jenni “JWoww” Farley. She gave birth to daughter Meilani in 2014. On a different American shore, out in Hawaii, is another well-known Meilani–Bethany Meilani Hamilton, the professional surfer whose story of surviving a shark attack was documented in the movie “Soul Surfer.”

For boys, it was Huxley (a brave new comeback for the late science fiction writer?).

Some other notable names in the top 10 biggest increase category, and some possible reasons for their newfound popularity:

Omari and Jabari for boys. Omari Hardwick is an actor, known for his roles in “Sparkle,” “The A-Team,” and BET Network’s “Being Mary Jane.” He currently stars in “Power,” a popular cable TV series. Jabari Parker is a professional basketball player.

for the Milwaukee Bucks. He was the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft out of Duke.

Adaline and Zelda for girls. “The Age of Adaline” is a 2015 fantasy film starring Blake Lively, Harrison Ford, Michiel Huisman, and Ellen Burstyn. As for Zelda, maybe the legend continues to grow?