So long Emma and Aiden. You've been Bumped. See the Top Baby Names for 2013.

A friends of mine who is due to give birth to a girl later this month recently told me she and her husband had finally agreed on a name for their precious bundle of joy. And that they had made it up.

I braced myself. This could go either way, of course, but in my experience, made up baby names are usually the stuff of nightmares. You smile when you hear them and try not to think of that poor kid's lifetime of explanations, always spelling-after-saying and the puzzled looks they'll get when introducing themselves as Lakynn, Braxlee or Izander in a job interview.

Had my friend suddenly lost the ability to think long-term? My mind raced. She and her husband had come up with it by combining both of their first names, she added. I braced myself a bit more.

Then she told me the name, and I hope the look on my face didn't reveal the intense relief I felt. It wasn't horrible! In fact, it was beautiful! I love it, and I told her so. And I can't recall that ever happening before (for a made-up name, at least). A first for everything, I guess.

Most people are not so, ahem, brave, when choosing a name for their child so they consult baby name books and lists of what's popular.

This year, BabyCenter has come up with a list of the top baby names for 2013, even though the year isn't yet over. I guess all of the December babies (there are two in my house) can take your combination Birthday-Christmas-Hanukkah presents and sit in the corner, because you don't count.

At the top of the list are the usual suspects: Sophia and Jackson. They knocked the 10-year favorites Emma and Aiden from (or near) the top spot. And whether you gravitate to classic names (Olivia, Lily, Noah, Ethan, Jacob) or the as-yet-to-become classics like Zoe, Mason, Liam or Chloe, you'll find plenty of familiar names in the top 20.

Or, you can always wait for the official Top Baby Names of 2013 list published by the Social Security Administration in May. But what fun is that?

Here are the top 20 Baby Names for girls and boys:

Girls             Boys

1. Sophia     Jackson

2. Emma      Aiden

3. Olivia       Liam

4. Isabella    Lucas

5. Mia          Noah

6. Ava          Mason

7. Lily         Jayden

8. Zoe         Ethan

9. Emily       Jacob

10. Chloe        Jack

11. Layla         Caden

12. Madison     Logan

13. Madelyn    Benjamin

14. Abigail       Michael

15. Aubrey      Caleb

16. Charlotte   Ryan

17. Amelia       Alexander

18. Ella            Elijah

19. Kaylee      James

20. Avery        William

Find the top 100 at BabyCenter.