Emily and Jacob stayed on top of the list of most popular baby names in 2002. Hannah edged out Madison as the second-most- popular name for girls. The top three boy's names were unchanged: Michael came in second and Matthew was third.

Emily has been the No. 1 name for girls since replacing Jessica in 1996. Madison and Hannah have been in the top 10 since 1997.

Jacob has been the most popular name for boys since 1999, when it ended Michael's impressive 35-year run in the top spot.

Also on the top-10 list for boys, in order after Matthew: Joshua, Christopher, Nicholas, Andrew, Joseph, Daniel and Tyler.

For girls, after Madison: Ashley, Sarah, Alexis, Samantha, Jessica, Elizabeth and Taylor.

The list is compiled by the Social Security Administration from applications for Social Security cards for children born in the given year.

Names that sound the same but are spelled differently, such as Sarah and Sara or Haley and Hailey, are listed separately.

• Most Popular Baby Names: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pressoffice/pr/baby-names-pr.htm

• History of Most Popular Baby Names: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/babynames/

• All In A Name Name Research Page: http://www.allinaname.com/name_links.shtml

I find it an interesting study to see how names have evolved over the years. The second related link above has name information dating back to the 19th century. It contains the most popular lists for each year back to 1990 and the top 1,000 names for each decade of the 20th century.