BabyCenter released its annual “Top 100″ list of boys and girls names. There’s a good mix of old-fashioned and Biblical names, but the biggest growth appears to be in names influenced by: 1) Celebrities; 2) Reality TV stars,  and 3) Actors or characters in other popular television shows.

My wife and I took the responsibility of naming our two kids very seriously. We wanted names that were solid and would stand the test of time. Throughout the name-negotiation process, we faced similar issues:

1) “Name association” — you hear a name and you may not like a person or people you immediately think of who share that name. The kid from fourth graded who “barfed” on the bus, the ex girlfriend/boyfriend, a former boss or historical figure.

For example, I can’t see a run on the name “George” anytime soon.

2) Of course there’s the grades-chool “nickname” or “rhymes with” factor — as in, what are other kids going to say? The name, Tucker, for example, comes to mind. And what Seinfeld fan can forget Dolores?

3) Dual-gender names — ones that do not obviously indicate “boy” or “girl”. I have a friend who’s a guy who has BabyCenter’s #8 girl name, Addison. “Peyton” is #20 on the girls list and NFL superstar quarterback Peyton Manning is about as masculine a guy as you’ll find. Names like Kelly, Jody, Alex, Mason, Avery, and Dylan seem to be used interchangeably between boys and girls. And what’s with parents given clear boys names like Charlie and Ryan to girls?

4) “Stripper” or “Adult Film” names. Chris Rock says that fathers have one responsibility for their baby girls: “Keep her off the pole”. Names like “Paris”, “Mercedes”, and “Lola” come to mind.

Yahoo! Shine added some additional color to BabyCenter’s “Top Baby Names Special Report” coverage. Please also note that the US Social Security Administration also releases an annual report. Click here for a look at their 2009 data.