Five stories that have North Texas talking: The most popular baby names in Texas haven’t changed much; why Dallas struggles with affordable housing; exploring the history of headwraps; and more.
Noah and Emma were the most popular names for babies born last year — both in the United States and Texas, according to Social Security data released Thursday. The pair of names has been the most popular for newborns in Texas since 2014. In Texas, 2,017 boys were named Noah, and 2,139 girls were named Emma last year, based on social security card applications.
Here are the top 10 male and female names in Texas in 2016:
- Noah, Emma
- Liam, Mia
- Sebastian, Sophia
- Daniel, Olivia
- Matthew, Isabella
- Jacob, Sofia
- Elijah, Ava
- Ethan, Camila
- Jose, Abigail
- David, Emily
All data are from a 100 percent sample of Social Security card applications as of March 2017. You can see the most popular baby names in the United States for every year since 1960 in the Social Security Administration’s online archives. [KERA News]
- In Dallas, there are only 19 affordable homes for every 100 low-income families that need them. The math is playing out in a West Dallas neighborhood. More than 100 families are holding out, still living in old rental houses due to be shut down at the beginning of June. They’ve known the day was coming for seven months. Two hundred of their neighbors have already moved, but many have no place to go. The housing crisis isn’t specific to Dallas, however. So why is the city struggling? [KERA News]
- Irving is saying goodbye to the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament after 35 years. After this weekend, the event is moving from the Four Seasons Resort in Las Colinas to south Dallas’ new Trinity Forest Golf Club.John Britton, an Irving resident, has been a volunteer at the event for almost 20 years and he hates to see it leave. "It just doesn't seem like it's the end. It's a shame — it really is." After this loss plus the Dallas Cowboys' move, Irving is shifting its focus away from sports. [KERA News]
- Chesley Antoinette’s designer headwraps reference a time when black women were forced to wear them. African and African-American women have worn headscarves for years for religious or cultural reasons or simply for fashion. They were originally mandated as articles of oppression but became statements of power. In Heart of the Headwrap, Antoinette’s photographs reference original paintings of black women wearing headwraps during the 17th and 18th centuries. [Art&Seek]
- Cuteness alert: the Dallas Zoo’s new baby lion, Bahati, makes her debut today. The nine-week-old cub is the first lion to be born at the zoo in 43 years. She was born on St. Patrick’s Day, a fitting birthday for Bahati Moja, meaning “lucky one” in Swahili. According to the zoo, “Bahati beat considerable odds to make it into this world. Her mother’s last pregnancy resulted in two stillborn cubs. This birth was successful due to an intervention through caesarian section.” [Dallas Zoo]
The High Five is KERA’s daily roundup of stories from Dallas-Fort Worth and across the state. Explore our archives here. And sign up for our weekly email for the North Texas news you need to know.