Alexander, Sophia most popular baby names in Nevada

Hello there baby Alexander and baby Sophia, baby Anthony and baby Isabella, baby Daniel, baby Jayden and baby Jacob, baby Emma, baby Olivia and baby Mia.

You’re not a unique, special flower, after all, you cute little bundle of joy.

You have the most common baby names in Nevada, the federal government says.

You are the Michaels and Jessicas of your generation. They were the nation’s most popular names in 1985, the year your parents were probably born.

The Social Security Administration, the government agency whose job is to distribute checks to retirees, also happens to compile baby names because just about everyone born nowadays gets a Social Security number pretty soon after.

The agency announced last week that, for the fourteenth year in a row, Jacob was the most popular boy’s name in the country in 2012. Sophia topped the national list for the second year in a row.

In Nevada, the administration said Wednesday, Alexander and Sophia were the most popular.

The most popular names list often follows popular culture. But, sadly, you can’t blame Twilight entirely for Isabella and Jacob. Those names were perennially in the top 10 long before the book was published, though they did shoot to the top after the movies came out.

Until recent years, there wasn’t much change in the list. The Michaels and Jameses and Georges hung out with the Marys and Elizabeths and Helens for decades.

Then the 1980s hit. You started seeing Heather, Ryan, Megan and Brandon hanging out with Michael and Elizabeth, who refused to go away.

By 2010, Liz and Mike were still near the top, but so were Aiden and Ava, Logan and Lily.

Last year, Liam joined up, and two tough-as-nails names were dubbed the fastest risers: Arya for girls and Major for boys.

Major, the feds speculate, might be getting popular because the military has become a fixture of our modern life. It is almost like naming a baby Leader and perhaps hoping it takes.

Maybe, acting agency Commissioner Carolyn Colvin speculated, we’ll be seeing more kids named General in the future. Or, maybe not.

Arya, though, is another matter. That name most likely came from the HBO television show “Game of Thrones,” an epic fantasy about Medieval life in a fictional world. Arya, played by petite 16-year-old British actress Maisie Williams, is an expert with a sword.

She is tough and outspoken and rejects the notion that she must be a proper lady in order to live a full life.

Instead, like anyone plucked out of today’s world, she vows to determine her own destiny.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.