the second most popular name for a girl was emma, and for a boy, Michael. Michael was at the top of the list for over thirty years, from 1964 to 1998. names beginning with the letter a have been popular lately, with alexia, Ashley, and Abigail for girls, and Andrew for boys all appearing in the top 10 list. each year, the ssa website provides the top 1,000 favorite names in the united state as a whole and also has lists for individual states.