Parents find their inspiration in many places when it comes to baby names.

For Donnie “Dee” Sanford and Thomas Koehler of Jackson, the influence for naming their daughter came from the lyrics of a Grateful Dead song.

Sunshine Daydream, born in March of 2007, was one of the more unusual names of the nearly 1,300 babies born at Southeast Missouri Hospital last year.

“We just like music, and we like unusual names,” says Sanford. Actually, they picked out the name six years ago when their son, Dylan Thomas, was born.  

When they found out they were having a girl this time around, they knew right away what their choice would be. “Her name really fits. She’s always happy,” says Sanford.

One of the more unusual boy’s names for 2007 was Espn (pronounced Espen). Espn Reed was born in February 2007 to a Bloomfield couple, who had watched an anniversary special on the popular sports network.  They learned several parents across the country had named their children ESPN.  “We like names that stand out,” says mother Karen Hartle. Both she and husband, Eric, played sports in school and enjoy watching sports on television.

Most Popular Names

Topping the list of most popular names during 2007 at Southeast Missouri Hospital was Abby/Abigail and Michael, Micheal or Mikeal. That's according to a comparison of nearly 1,250 babies who appeared in B@bies Online, the Hospital’s popular Web nursery.

But even the top names were chosen just over a dozen times, says Joni Adams Bliss, supervisor of Web tools at Southeast Missouri Hospital. “That’s pretty amazing when you consider we had nearly 1,300 babies. It just goes to show that parents continue to embrace unusual names, and unique spellings to set their baby apart.”

Rounding out the most popular five girls names at Southeast in 2007 were: Addison, Ava, and a tie between Chloe and Madison.

For boys, Michael was followed in popularity by Jackson, John/Jonathan, Aiden and Colten.

All these top names were spelled at least two and as many as six different ways, says Bliss. “You really can’t assume a name is spelled a certain way anymore,” she says. “That applies to very traditional names as well. For example, instead of Phoebe, one of our parents chose to spell it Febe.”

When it came to names popular for either boys or girls, Jordan, Riley, Lee and Lynn topped the list.

What other unusual names did parents pick in 2007?
Some choose place names, such as Asia, Brooklyn, London, Dallas, Phoenix, Nebraska, Montana, Orlando and Houston.

Others opted for more earthy names like Autumn, Willow, Meadow, Stormey and Summer. Some parents reached for the stars with such names as Miley, Cyrus, Danika, Kimmora, Jolie, Gwenyth, Liam, Keira and Reece.

But old-fashioned names also made a comeback with some parents opting for Hank, Fred, Joe, Lucy, June, Bluebell and Imogene to name a few. Others chose names like Angel, Heaven or heaven spelled backwards, Nevaeh.

Click here to see our first new baby of 2008

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