Jacob is the new Michael.
While the first name shared by Mssrs. Douglas, J. Fox and Corleone reigned supreme near the end of the last century, the new millennium belongs to Jacob.
Chosen by parents 388 times in 2006, Jacob was the most popular name for Colorado baby boys for the 11th-straight year, according to the state health department.
Rounding out the top five were Ethan, Alexander, Joshua and Noah.
Parents of baby girls proved more fickle. Chosen 318 times, Isabella nudged last year’s most popular – Emily – out of first place by 23 newborns.
Third place belonged to Emma, followed by Hannah and Abigail.
When it comes to name consistency, no one competes with parents of Latino baby boys. Jose has been their top choice every year since 1995. For the third year in a row, Latino parents favored Ashley for girls.
For the fifth-straight year, Nevaeh (heaven spelled backward) was the top choice for African-American girls, while Old Testament stalwarts Elijah and Isiah continued their six-year jostle for the top spot among parents of boys. This year, Elijah won by just four babies.
A few sports fans among the parents of Colorado’s 71,000 babies born last year gave their offspring big baby shoes to fill, choosing Beckham, Bode, Carmelo, Kobe and Peyton.
