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These are the names people change the most, Social Security says

Data from the Social Security Administration shows certain names are changed more often than others. (Getty Images)

(NEXSTAR) — Ever considered changing your name? Depending what your first name is, it’s likely you have. Data from the Social Security Administration shows certain names are changed more often than others.

The administration recently told the Washington Post which names are the most often changed. WaPo says the administration used information from 2017 until the present — and the top 2 most changed names were the atypical “Issac” and “Chole.” These are believed to be misspellings of “Isaac” and “Chloe,” respectively, though it’s noted there’s no way to know for certain.


Rankings also include the names people often change their names to.

RankMost-changed namesRankMost-adopted names
1.Issac1.Isaac
2.Chole2.Chloe
3.Aiden3.Sebastian
4.Conner4.William
5.Elliot5.Olivia
6.Michael6.Michael
7.James7.Elijah
8.Isabella8.Matthew
9.Sophia9.Connor
10.David10.Jonathan
(Data provided by Social Security Administration)

According to Behind the Name, which tracks name etymology, genesis and popularity based on scholarly linguistic sources and a user-submitted database, “Isaac” — which originates to Hebrew and the Old Testament — has always been commonplace. Since 2001, “Isaac” has remained within the top 50 most popular names, per BtN data.

It’s also important to note that though “Issac” may be a misspelling of “Isaac” for some namers, the spelling is a variant of “Isaac” in some cultures.

“Chloe,” meanwhile, appears to have fallen out of favor around 1943 — when it was ranked as the 952nd most popular name — before seeing a resurgence in popularity around 1982, Behind the Name reports. Chloe eventually cracked the top 10 in 2008, and has stayed in the top 30 since. In 2021, Chloe was actually the 24th most popular name.

In its tracking of name popularity, the SSA also shows which baby names increased or decreased in popularity between 2020 and 2021. Names are currently divided by “male” and “female” and may not account for unisex/non-binary usages of certain names. Year columns indicate the name’s rank on the SSA’s list that year.

These are the names that increased in popularity between 2020 and 2021.

Male birthsFemale births
NameChange20212020NameChange20212020
Amiri5347571291Raya441494935
Eliam4427361178Wrenley397498895
Colter344627971Angelique3068761182
Ozzy3367121048Vida2859921277
Loyal3007531053Emberlynn2849611245
Khai2879881275Flora278647925
Evander2797671046Murphy262716978
Camilo263610873Arleth2599571216
Mac260673933Ocean2538771130
Jiraiya2518281079Freyja243709952

These are the names that decreased in popularity between 2020 and 2021.

Male birthsFemale births
NameChange20212020NameChange20212020
Jaxtyn349935586Denisse4711323852
Karsyn254954700Denise3601233873
Xzavier2361212973Karen2631091823
Willie2101202992Keily2271080853
Tristen2021056854Nathalie2211133912
Aldo200983783Itzayana214971757
Hakeem1961155959Alexa213442229
Bentlee1931082889Meilani2081094886
Marley1881130942Lyanna203969766
Korbyn1821177995Elliot201773572

The Social Security Administration’s popular names database contains names given in the U.S. and District of Columbia starting after 1879. The administration explains there are certain restrictions around its data, including incorrect birth certificate information, various spellings of certain names and potential ties needing to be broken.

Per SSA, 2021’s most popular baby names are Liam, Noah and Oliver (ranked first through third) for males and Olivia, Emma and Charlotte for females.