Tennessee parents have voted and placed incumbents Emma and William at the top of the poll of names chosen for babies born in 2015. Votes are tallied by the dedicated team in the Tennessee Office of Vital Records, which registers some 240,000 new records of births, deaths, marriages and divorces every year.
The top 10 names Tennessee parents chose for their new babies born in 2015* are as follows:
Rank Girls
1 Emma
2 Olivia
3 Ava
4 Harper
5 Abigail
6 Sophia
7 Elizabeth
8 Isabella
9 Madison
10 Emily
Rank Boys
1 William
2 James
3 Elijah
4 Mason
5 Noah
6 Liam
7 Jackson
8 Jacob
9 John
10 Carter
*provisional data
Both the boys' and girls' name lists include new candidates in the number 10 spots this year: Emily collected enough votes to break into the ranking as the number 10 name for girls; Carter is the newcomer as the number 10 name for boys. All other names on the 2015 top ten list are unchanged from the previous year, although some have moved in the rankings.
Data on Tennessee's most popular baby names are pulled from birth certificates, which are issued by the TDH Office of Vital Records. This office is charged with maintaining the integrity of approximately 15 million records, which can include issuance and amending records such as birth and death certificates and records of marriages and divorces that occur in Tennessee. The Office of Vital Records processes an average of more than 14,000 requests for such certificates every month, providing service to an average of 650 customers each week. These requests are submitted in person, by mail, online and via telephone; Vital Records staff members handle an average of 15,000 phone calls every month and issue more than 700 certificates every single day. This office registers approximately 240,000 new records of events for birth, death, marriage and divorce annually.
