FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

DANVILLE, PA -- Parents are gaga over Jackson and Emma.

Geisinger Health System (GHS) has tabulated the most popular names of the more than 5,000 babies delivered at its hospitals throughout 2016. For the second year, variations of the name Jackson were the top moniker for baby boys. Grayson climbed the crib rails into the top 10 list, overcoming Liam to settle into second place. Olivia crawled up eight spots to tie with Emma for the top girls’ name, bumping Adalynn to the backseat.

Most of the girls’ names are new to our top 10 list, except for family favorites Olivia, Emma and Adalynn. For the boys, Aidan and Gabriel lost their top spots, making room for names like Wyatt and Oliver for the first time.

Below are our top 10 baby names in 2016, as well as the trendiest names at Geisinger hospitals including  Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital, Bloomsburg; Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, Lewistown; Geisinger Medical Center, Danville; and Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Plains Twp.

To find these results, we combined different spelling variations of the same sounding name. For example, the ranking for Adalynn also includes variations Adalinn, Adalyn, Addalyn and Addalynn. While Jackson also includes variations such as Jacksen, Jaxon, Jaxson and Jaxxon. Many of the other names on the list include multiple spellings.

In comparison, website BabyCenter.com recently released that the most popular names of 2016 as reported by their subscribers were Sophia for girls and — surprise — Jackson for boys.

About Geisinger
Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the nonprofit system generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 126 care sites — including 10 hospital campuses — and Geisinger Health Plan, with more than half a million members in commercial and government plans. Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and conducts more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With 26,000 employees, including 1,700 employed physicians, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers with an estimated economic impact of $15 billion to the state’s economy. On March 31, 2024, Geisinger became the first member of Risant Health, a new nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country. Learn more at geisinger.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.