Birmingham, England, UK -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/15/2006 --Suri Cruise is hot property (mainly because no-one has seen her!) and the world waits with baited breathe to see if Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt will inherit the aesthetic genes of her parents - reputedly two of the most beautiful people on the planet.

Actually, a significant part of the interest in these celebrity babies arises from the very unusual names that they have been given. Of course, giving your child a unique (or strange?) names is quote a common celebrity sport and its something that is now spreading to the rest of the population. You only have to open the pages of the gossip magazines or spend a few hours in a local kindergarten to realize that we are now awash with flamboyant, exotic, unusual and downright weird-sounding children's names.

Or are we? Well, actually no! “The truth is that countries like the US and the UK remain extremely conservative when it comes to the naming of new babies,” reports Michael Barrows of popular website All-About-Baby-Names.com. “If we actually look at the top baby names for 2005, they haven't really changed since the previous year, with Jacob and Emily again the most popular names. In fact, nothing much has changed for several years.”

A look at the SSA official figures for the top 10 baby names registered in 2004 and 2005 confirms this;

BOYS - 2005
Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Ethan, Andrew, Daniel, Anthony, Christopher, Joseph.

BOYS - 2004
Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Ethan, Andrew, Daniel, William, Joseph, Christopher.

GIRLS - 2005
Emily, Emma, Madison, Abigail, Olivia, Isabella, Hannah, Samantha, Ava, Ashley

GIRLS - 2004
Emily, Emma, Madison, Olivia, Hannah, Abigail, Isabella, Ashley, Samantha, Elizabeth.

Michael Barrows says, “The lists show that the US is, at heart, a very conservative, God-fearing society when it comes to naming children. Traditional biblical names continue to dominate, especially when naming boys. In fact, despite the massive changes in society over the last hundred years, the attitudes towards naming children have remained solidly consistent.

“In fact, my own name 'Michael' was the most popular baby boy name in America every decade from the 1960s through to the end of the century. Since 1999, it has remained firmly at number 2 in the list, second only to another biblical name; Jacob.”

Michael says, “Family traditions and concern over the psychological and other effects of unusual names often results in parents falling back on old favorites, particularly for boys, who as men, tend to have a harder time in a society where unusual names that are often seen as less masculine. It is reasonable to assume that solid, traditional, biblical names will continue to dominate for many, many years to come.”

Michael Barrows is CEO of Matrix Marketing which operates the popular website http://www.all-about-baby-names.com.

Contact Michael Barrows for more insights into this topic. Direct line: (07985) 561070, Email: mwbarrows@all-about-baby-names.com. Lots of helpful information on baby names and baby resources can be found at: http://www.all-about-baby-names.com, including a free ebook "Baby Tips For New Parents."