Celebrities and pop culture proved the strongest influence on the baby names of 2009.
While the biggest baby name news of the year was Emma's rise to claim the number one spot for girls' names, the names moving fastest up the popularity ladder were influenced by stars, their babies, the characters they play, and even reality shows and news stories.
The Top Ten Fastest Movers for girls were:
Khloe - As in reality star Karshadian
Audrina - The nouveau name of another reality star, Partridge
Marley - The original spelling of the name of both the dog and reggae star Bob.
Jaslene -- From America's Next Top Model
For boys, the most dramatic movers were:
Jacoby -- Ellsbury, of baseball fame
Kingston - Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale's son.
Other trendy names getting a boost from their celebrity associations include, for girls:
Valentina - (Salma Hayek's daughter)
Kimora - Lee Simmons, mom of newborn Kenzo.
Hayden - For girls, after Panettiere, star of Heroes
Malia - Inspired by the older Obama daughter
For boys, other celebrity-inspired hotties include:
River - The name of Keri Russell's son.
Milo - Liv Tyler's choice for her little boy.
Kobe - Basketball star Bryant.
Cruz - Spanish choice inspired by the youngest son of Victoria and David Beckham.
Even fictional characters have an influence. One name newly on the baby-namers' scope is Sloane for girls, thanks to the character on HBO's Entourage. For boys', Cohen entered the mix, via the surname of the popular character on The O.C., along with Silas, name of the older son on Weeds, and Dexter, Showtime's lovable mass murderer. And all the Twilight names, from Edward to Cullen to Bella to Esme, are newly in favor.
Sloane was new to the Top 1000, along with Gemma, Isla (as in red-headed star Fisher), Matilda (daughter of Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger); and for boys, Callum, extremely popular throughout Britain but a newcomer to the U.S.
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