What's in a name?

My wife and I consulted one of those baby names books when we were considering monikers for our children 15 and 13 years ago, respectively. Ultimately, though, we chose names that we thought worked well with Breen, not necessarily what had the deepest meaning or was the most popular that year. Our oldest son, Michael, has a name that always seems to appear on the top baby names list. This year, according to BabyCenter.com, the name Michael was No. 18 on the top 20, behind such names as Caleb, Brayden, Caden, Jayden and the top name -- Aiden. There's something about the "ayden" sound that must appeal to today's parents. My grandfathers' names -- John and Raymond, are nowhere to be found (though "Jack," which my paternal grandfather went by, is No. 10. My dad's name, Tom, isn't on the list; nor is Adam. And I kinda like it that way. Our younger son's name -- Andrew -- doesn't appear on this year's top 20 either. If my wife was expecting a child in 2010, would we feel pressure to make sure our son's name included the "ayden" sound like four of the top 20 names did this year? Probably not. If one of our boys would have been a girl, however, our top choice -- Isabella -- is No. 1 on the top 20 girls' names list, ahead of No. 8, Chloe, which is the name of our cat. If we had a girl, the chances that our daughter would be in a classroom with other girls of the same name would be much greater and we wouldn't feel as creative. But alas, a decade-and-a-half after their names hit the birth certificate -- Andrew is not in the Top 20 and Michael is down to 18, though they're tied for No. 1 on Mom and Dad's list. For another look at the complete list, check out The Mommy Files blog. (photo courtesy of sashafatcat's Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sashafatcat/3175576611/)