The U.S. Social Security Administration recently released data on the most popular baby names of 2006. Without looking anywhere else on this page, can you guess what the #1 names were?

If you're stumped, try thinking back to the 2005 list. Why? Because the top names--in fact, the top three names--stayed exactly the same. Here they are:

1. Jacob
2. Michael
3. Joshua

And the top 3 names stayed the same for the girls as well.

Jacob, Michael and Joshua retained the same rank from 2005 to 2006, but the number of babies who were given these names has gone down (...even as the total number of babies born in the U.S. has gone up). The names, therefore, have less of a choke-hold on the top spots than they did in 2005. Here are the differences:

Jacob: 25,664 babies born in 2005 -> 24,418 babies born in 2006
Michael: 23,626 babies born in 2005 -> 22,220 babies born in 2006
Joshua: 23,067 babies born in 2005 -> 21,875 babies born in 2006

The other names on the top ten list were jostled around a bit. Here's how they ranked for 2006, and (in parentheses) how far they've gone up or down in rank since 2005:

4. Ethan (+1)
5. Matthew (-1)
6. Daniel (+1)
7. Christopher (+2)
8. Andrew (-2)
9. Anthony (-1)
10. William (+1)

Joseph had been on the top ten list in 2005, but it was bumped down in 2006 to make way for William.

What about other popular boy names? Here are #11 through #30:

11. Joseph (-1)
12. Alexander
13. David
14. Ryan
15. Noah (+8)
16. James (+1)
17. Nicholas (-2)
18. Tyler (-2)
19. Logan (+7)
20. John (-2)
21. Christian (+1)
22. Jonathan (-3)
23. Nathan (-3)
24. Benjamin (+1)
25. Samuel (-4)
26. Dylan (-2)
27. Brandon
28. Gabriel
29. Elijah (+2)
30. Angel (+2)

Elijah and Angel are new to the top 30. They bumped Jose and Zachary down to 31st and 33rd, respectively.

The biggest jump within the top 30 was made by Noah, which shot up from #23 in 2005 to #15 in 2006 and is set to rise even further.

10,000 Most Popular Baby Boy Names Want more than the top 100 or top 1,000 baby boy names? Here's a complete list of the 10,000 most popular baby boy names in the nation! Click to learn more.