Emma top Iowa baby name

Emma is back.

After dropping from the No. 1 spot in 2007, Emma returned to being the most popular girl's name chosen by Iowa parents last year, holding that position for six of the last seven years after being edged out by Ava in 2007.

On the boys' side, Ethan held the most-chosen slot among male newborn monikers for the fourth straight year, according to the latest vital statistics report issued by the state Department of Public Health.

“We think Emma is just a nice name. Even in 50 years, I think it will still be a nice name,” said Suzanne Horak, a Washington, Iowa, mother of five, who - along with her husband, Luke - last November joined the ranks of 255 couples or single parents who named their daughters Emma in 2008.

“We didn't want to pick something that stylish or trendy. We wanted a name that would carry on,” said Horak, who noted that the popularity of Emma did not factor into their naming decision.

Laura Wattenberg, author of Baby Name Wizard (www.babynamewizard.com), said Iowa is mirroring the national trend on the girls' side where Emma ranked No. 1 nationally as well, but it showing more of a regional bend when naming boys. Jacob, the top boy's name nationally, has slipped to sixth in Iowa after holding sway as Iowa's No. 1 choice for multiple years until 2004.

“Ethan, Emma, Olivia – all of these traditional old-fashioned names are hot right now,” Wattenberg said. “What they all have in common is something that parents almost never consciously think about - they never have two consecutive consonant sounds in a row.

“The big trend for this generation is vowels. It's OK to have consonants but you have to separate them by strong, long vowel sounds,” she added. “

Horak said she turned to simple, easy to pronounce and spell names after naming her first son Brennan.

“We really like that name, but after we named him, people were calling him Brendan, Brandon, different takes to the name. We had to keep correcting them and correcting how they spelled it.

“So after that, all of our names are very simple. We have an Evan, a Drew, a Lauren and now Emma,” she said.

Even though some names perennially appear among the most popular, Wattenberg said trends in naming children are changing faster than ever before and that's particularly true when it comes to boys.

“It used to be that the same standard boys' names would be popular generation after generation. But today, names come into fashion fast and they fall out of fashion fast,” she said.