
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Do you know a child named Aiden or Madeline? Chances are someone will as they are the top names for boys and girls in 2009, while Jacob and Emma were the most popular of the decade.
"We've seen more spelling variations of both of this year's top names than we imagined possible - Aiden has also been Ayden, Aidyn, Aden, and Aaden and Madeline can be spelled Madeleine, Maddelin, and Madalen," said Candace Alper, the creator/executive producer of the musical web site nameyourtune.com.
"Parents like the sound of traditional names, but they also want to show the individuality of their children. Parents realize that the name they give their child will become part of the child's identity," Alper said.
She said that variations on the name Aiden are also dominating both boys and girls names, such as Jayden, Brayden and Hayden, because the names are gender-neutral and can be spelled so many ways.
Her prediction for the next decade is that there will be more Edwards and a lot more Bellas being born due to the success of the Twilight film franchise.
Rounding out the top names for boys in 2009 were Matthew, Owen, Ethan, Jackson, Evan, Braden, Noah, Jack and Zachary.
For girls it was Madison, Emma, Hannah, Olivia, Audrey, Isabella, Grace, Taylor and Emily.
Top boy names of the decade were Jacob, Michael, Ethan, Christopher, Jack, Daniel, Aiden, William, Joshua and Ryder.
Top girl names of the decade were Emma, Madison, Emily, Hannah, Olivia, Samantha, Ashley. Ava, Elizabeth and Madelyn.















Dayang's home made cookies on a stick.
This is Danya! But this isn't the Mummy.
This is Danya's Mummy!










This was last month, before he fully mastered the art of crawling. I call this his cheeky "I am going to try and stand up to see what Mummy is up to" look.
And this is his "Mummy I am stuck please save my poor butt" look.
This was this morning. This is the "Yes! I am standing" look.
And this is the "O-oh, I don't think I can go down" look.

This is the "I can't hold on any longer!" look. And then he tumbles down.......










