Olivia, Ethan now rank as Iowa's top baby names

Associated Press - July 27, 2010 6:04 AM ET

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Olivia and Ethan top the latest list of Iowa's most popular baby names.

The Department of Public Health says Olivia replaced Emma as the top choice of Iowa parents for baby girls in 2009, while Ethan held the No. 1 spot for boys' names for the fifth straight year.

Nationally, Isabella was the top choice for girl's names while Jacob was No. 1 for boys.

7 of Iowa's most-popular names for girls also showed up on the national list, while only 4 of Iowa's top boys' names appeared on both the state and national lists.

Laura Wattenberg of babynamewizard.com says Iowa is seeing "a kind of neo-traditionalism." She says parents are picking names that have roots but still sound fresh because they weren't used much in the previous generation.

Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazetteonline.com/