Index: wp-admin/admin-functions.php
===================================================================
--- wp-admin/admin-functions.php	(revision 2981)
+++ wp-admin/admin-functions.php	(working copy)
@@ -430,9 +430,13 @@
 
 function return_categories_list($parent = 0) {
 	global $wpdb;
-	return $wpdb->get_col("SELECT cat_ID FROM $wpdb->categories WHERE category_parent = $parent ORDER BY category_count DESC");
+	return $wpdb->get_col("SELECT cat_ID FROM $wpdb->categories WHERE category_parent = $parent");
 }
 
+function sort_cats($cat1, $cat2) {
+	return strcasecmp($cat1['cat_name'], $cat2['cat_name']);
+}
+
 function get_nested_categories($default = 0, $parent = 0) {
 	global $post_ID, $mode, $wpdb;
 
@@ -463,6 +467,8 @@
 			$result[$cat]['cat_name'] = get_the_category_by_ID($cat);
 		}
 	}
+	
+	usort($result, 'sort_cats');
 
 	return $result;
 }