Is your name on the list? Kadlec releases most popular baby names for 2017

Trisha Litka has been a labor and delivery nurse for years.

She’s helped a lot of babies into the world — too many to count.

And she’s watched as new moms and dads — veteran ones, too — wrestle, ponder, debate and delight in giving their little ones names.

“It’s a big decision,” Litka said. “This is forever.”

Litka works at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, and last year she saw a few names surge in particular.

Emma and Liam topped the list of most popular baby names at the hospital in 2017. Other classic names, such as Abigail and Benjamin, also made the list.

For girls, Camila, Emily, Olivia, Sophia, Ava, Isabella, Charlotte and Harper rounded out the Top 10.

For boys, the next most popular names were Isaac, Isaiah, Jaxon, Logan, William, David, Jeremiah and Julian.

Trios Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Kennewick doesn’t keep a similar record. But outside the Tri-Cities, Emma and Liam also were favorites.

They both cracked the Top Three of BabyCenter’s most popular names of 2017.

In her time in labor and delivery, Litka has seen plenty of name trends.

Not that long ago, for example, Twilight fever had taken hold and many Bellas and Jacobs were born at Kadlec, she said.

She’s also seen some relatively unusual monikers. For a while, Nevaeh was popular. The name is “Heaven” spelled backwards.

And, once, she saw a baby named Abcde, spelled with the first five letters of the alphabet. The name was pronounced, “Ab-sidie.”

“I like the original names. I like things that are little different,” Litka said. “Sometimes it comes from nowhere. You don’t know where they got it, but it’s beautiful and works perfectly.”

Other times, Litka said, the names have special family connections. They honor a loved one. They honor tradition.

Grandma passes away and baby gets her name.

“Or baby gets dad’s name, which was grandpa’s name, which was great-grandpa’s name. It’s passed down generation to generation,” Litka said.

That’s special, too. It’s all special, she said.

The miracle of life, the forming or expanding or reshaping of a family — it’s something she gets to witness day after day. Something she treasures.

Babies take their first breaths on her watch. They get their first hugs and kisses from their parents. They get their names.

“A lot of times, parents will come to the hospital with a short list — three girl names, three boy names. And they’ll look at their baby and they’ll know,” Litka said.

“The fact that I get paid to do this job is amazing,” she said. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Is your name on the list? Kadlec releases most popular baby names for 2017."