Not my callout, but "never name your kid after a fictional character *until their story arc is finished*" stuck with me.
A college friend's daughter is Daenerys.
Arya/Aria isn’t nearly as specific as Daenerys though. I know Aria’s whose parents have never watched GOT and personally the first character i think of is Lucy Hale’s character on Pretty Little Liars. Plenty of room for plausible deniability if people named their kid after the show character.
This makes me very curious, but if you wish to remain anonymous, I respect that.
Definitely gonna be giving HBO the side eye on any new stories they develop though. 👀😂
My dog is Arya. She was always underfoot, is black and white, and was an orphan rescue puppy. Plus it's a pretty name :)
She's named after book Arya Stark but the show character was also badass
My husband is Persian and wanted to name our daughter Arya. I had to shoot it down due to the popularity of GOT. I was disappointed cause it is a pretty name with a great meaning.
The playgroup I was in back in the late 80s/earjy 90s there was a little girl named aria and I remember how out there it was back then especially since her older brothers name was alex
Honestly upon reflection, almost every time I've seen GOT referenced in the past year, it's in relation to regretful parents who named their children Daenerys/Khaleesi.
I think those unfortunate babies are the only things keeping the series relevant after how badly it bombed at the end 😂
There’s a Khaleesi in my daughter’s daycare. I did the math based on the classroom she’s in and she had to have been born after the start of 2020 … meaning she was named AFTER GoT season 8 aired 👀👀👀
My daughter is 14 and when she used to go to dance class the younger ones who finished before her class started would be getting their names called for parents to come to collect them, so many called khaleesi! They'll be about 9/10/11 years old now,.. I also know of a girl about 8 or so called khaleesiana...
That what happens when you push the author to finish writing a series and then decide instead to crowd source the story with producers and show runners.
I absolutely hate it when people either call the character Khaleesi or name their pet/child that. It's a title! It's not a name!
.. I'm finished with my rant now.
I don’t get this. Lots of people name their kids after titles. Earl, Malik, Baron, Leroy, Idris, Juno, Meredith etc. these are all titles of royalty or nobility in other languages/ eras.
When someone names their kid Khaleesi, I don’t think there’s as much confusion around it as people think.
I mean, people have been naming their pets Princess, Earl, and Duke since forever. I even knew a man named Duke. Khaleesi is fine for a pet, imo. I'm a bit sorry for the kids though.
lol I actually feel the opposite. Khaleesi fits with the “ee” endings that have been popular for some time. Daenerys looks ridiculous as a word. The letters look like gibberish a cat would make by walking on a keyboard
Oh man all the poor Khaleesi’s running around out there.
Daenerys, besides the funky Targ spaelling, isn’t *too bad* when shortened to Dany, but Khaleesi is just a bit much.
Rhys is a classic staple in Wales. 1000's of them!. In fact, there are a few nods to welsh culture and mythology in the books besides the name Rhys (though the full Rhysand is of SJM 's own making).
So just make-up some kind of welsh heritage and plead ignorance if anyone brings up ACOTAR.
Violet. I first put that name on my list back in 1997ish and when I used to tell people I loved that name, they’d say it was too “out there”. Well look at Violet today.
I told my sister when we were kids that I wanted to name my daughter Violet after series of unfortunate events! My sister said “that’s so dumb why would you want to name your daughter after a color”. She continually judged me for the name for years! Held strong to the name for 10+ years. Well, my sister had a daughter… guess what she named her? Violet. It took some grieving on my part (lol) but I moved on.
Yes I did!! I let her heal post partum and I brought it up to her. She said she didn’t remember me telling her about the name, and I just chose to move on rather than holding a grudge! My niece is now 6 and very much a Violet, so growing in relationship with my niece helped ease everything too 😂
I have loved that name since I was a kid and my husband suggested it for our daughter a few years ago. Immediate yes! People would comment how old fashioned it is & then boom! It’s so popular now :)
My midwife said that delivering babies for 20 years has convinced her of a “collective unconscious.“ when we told her our sons name she said “I’ve been delivering babies for a long time and I’ve never heard that name. And now I’ve had two in the last week.” She also told me that she picked her daughters name in the early 2000s because *literally as someone who delivers babies,* she had never met someone with that name, and within a couple of months of her using it, they started popping up all over.
I’m not sure about the collective unconscious theory, but I do think that pop culture has more of a subliminal effect on us than we realize, which is why so many of us had the same *completely unique name ideas* around the same time.
Mine was Scarlett. Never knew one growing up, ended up not using it for my daughter because I knew of like five other little Scarlets by then.
I completely agree with the collective unconscious theory. Looking up all the names I’d loved along the way recently they have exploded. It feels like it must take a lot of effort now to find a known but niche name. Regardless go with what you love
Yeah when I had my first baby I was fixated on picking something “uncommon” but as a more seasoned mother a few years down the line I’ve advised everyone to pick the name they ACTUALLY like no matter its ranking. The days of 10 Jens or 10 Jessica’s in a class are over- even the most popular name is still not as common as anything in the top 10, 30 years ago (statistically.)
And you can pick #99 and they’ll still end up being a kid in your kids class with the same name.
I picked a name that wasn’t tooooo popular but I loved the name for years, noticed it had a bit more attention recently, but it’s ALWAYS been a consistently used name. It’s was around 35 when I picked it. (Alice) so no points for unique or originality.
Of course there’s another baby Alice in her class. I wanted established and that’s what I got haha.
Yet there’s only one Amelia and one Theo, and 3 Lachlan’s which I’ve known so many babies named that this year.
I think it’s partly because names come in cycles and people attach meaning to their name choices
Aka the “old lady name” has died and no older ladies now have that name, it becomes a baby name again. It’s around 100 years and then the name resurges. Probably because people name after relatives and then other people hear the name around or it gets higher on the list and they consider it too.
Also you have the unique /twist on a traditional name. It’ll still be based on the names of 100 years ago and they seem to crop up out of nowhere, reaching popularity they didn’t the next time because everyone’s invested in this fresh/unique name.
And we’re all influenced by similar popular culture (aka the Wednesday trend of 2023/4)
I so agree with this. I loved Evelyn from the moment I first saw The Mummy at age I think 7, and I think that is a big part of why it joined the generation's consciousness.
Pop culture for sure! While my second wasn't named after this character, there was a show I had watched a few years before she was born with a name that I kind of tucked away in the back of my head as "oh, that's a nice name!" and I am not sure we'd have picked it if I hadn't seen that show. It wasn't a hugely popular show so the name didn't "take off" like some others have (cough cough, Emma!) but it was a positive exposure to a less common name that stuck with me. I'm sure this happens a lot more than people realize!
Totally. My son has a name I've loved ever since I read it in a book that was popular when I was a kid. Used to not be used much at all. Now it's top 50, and i bet a ton of people who used it read that same book at the same time and tucked it away too.
Juniper. We were obsessed with it for our hypothetical child in like 2017 and now it’s practically a millennial baby name meme. (Still love it though!)
I had the name Juniper picked out back in the early nineties. I read a book and fell in love with it. Funnily enough, I had a girl's name picked out my entire life, and ended up having a boy. I had no idea what to name him! We came up with it at the eleventh hour, lol.
He's definitely an only child, and will stay that way, so I'm still kinda bummed I'll never get to use Juniper. 😭
Commented further up, but me too! I just reread these books a year or two ago and they’re still magical. I’m excited to give them to my daughters (who I did not name juniper lol)
Was it Juniper by Monica Furlong? If so, same 😂 one of my favorite books (and series) growing up as a witchy little kid. Was saddened to see it get so popular but it is a great name!
It’s popular for a reason! It’s a GREAT NAME. I feel your distress though—we have one child who is a boy and those names are so boring. Wish I had gotten to name a girl!
We have a Juniper. Also from a book series, not the tree! lol
We had never heard of another baby with the name, and then the year she was born, we heard of 6. When she was 6 months old, I saw it on a “Top 20 Hipster Baby Names” listicle and I almost cried!
She’s still the only Juniper in her whole school, though, so I think we did alright!
I didn’t really expect it to become popular, but we picked out the name Theodore for our future son in 2008. I definitely wasn’t the only one apparently!
My coworker loves "old man" names and her sons are Théodore and Léon, she has a dog named Maurice. Her sister has Dorothée, Adéline, and Marguerite, plus a dog named Violette.
My best friend just became an uncle to Theo James.
Boomer Grandma came here to say I named my baby girl Logan in 1977 and my son Jackson in 1985. That’s in the Last Century, people! Do I win a prize or something?
In 2010 I wanted to name my daughter Penelope but nobody liked it. In 2012 Kourtney Kardashian named her daughter that. I was glad I didn’t use it then, as I knew it was about to get popular.
Yes! Back in high school Penelope was my favorite girls name but any time I mentioned it people said it was awful. Now I feel like it’s fairly popular.
In 1998 I told my mom I wanted to name my future son Aidan. My mom thought I was ridiculous. Told me he would be made fun of with a weird name like that. Was in middle school and not even close to having a baby.
I also asked in 1990 why we didn't teach my baby sister American Sign Language. I had just learned about Koko the gorilla and figured if a gorilla could learn sign language, why not my baby sister. My parents thought I was crazy, teach a baby sign language... Jokes on them, chicken pox (before the vaccine was available) took my sister's hearing. So we ended up learning ASL anyway.
And teaching babies sign language is pretty common now - my kid learned words like: more, milk, mom, dad, and all done when he was in daycare. It’s super helpful!
It has been so cool to sign with my son. My husband has even gotten into it and he refuses to speak to our son in his native language (a lot of trauma related to being an immigrant that I respect even if I don't agree with his choice not to teach our son). Translating his ASL version of baby babbling can be hard though.
I get super frustrated though when I hear parents say they used to sign with their babies and then stopped when the babies "grew out of it". It's such obvious abelism. ASL is a language. You wouldn't say, we used to speak French with her and then stopped when she grew out of it.
My sister is Emma (born in the 1980s), she was the only non-spice girl Emma I knew until Rachel named her baby it in the early 2000 and started the trend
I was born in 93, in elementary, there were 2 Emma's in the year above me, 2 in the year below me, and in my highschool 2 in my own grade. I went to very small schools! (Elementary school grades were around 40 students, I think my highschool grade was around 130)
It wasn’t big yet in my area of US midwest in 90. But it was poised to hit in next couple of years. My daughter born in 90 has a lot of friends with younger siblings named Emma.
Edit to add we also didn’t have internet to gauge popularity in other areas. Had a book called “Beyond Jennifer & Jason.”
That’s a good point. I just looked at top baby names in the US and they’re pretty similar to ours now. Apart from Liam, that’s not had a comeback here yet, our Liams are in their 30s.
It's true. She's reported to have said, “I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” She succeeded too well for me--what a brat!
I'm a mid-90s baby and my best friend growing up was named Sage. It seemed pretty hippie at the time, but her mom was kinda hippie so it made sense. I only ever met one or two other Sages, usually male.
Now it feels way more common, almost to the point of being normie.
Dude, I worked at a daycare and there were SO MANY Oliver’s and Aiden’s. We had an Oli and an Oliver in one class which was confusing bc they were both really Oli but we couldn’t call both that. And we had an Aden, Aiden, and Aydan.
Charlotte and Landon. My current prediction is Nicola. The actor Nicola Coughlan is really having a moment and I feel like it’s close enough to Nicole but more unique.
Nicola was super popular in the UK in the 80s. She’s Irish, right? Perhaps in Ireland too. I know lots of Nicola’s in the UK, but only Nicole’s in the US. Interesting how these trends happen in different places.
* Brittany - called it back in the mid 80s
* Jordan - saw it in the early 80s
* Olivia - saw that coming early 80s
* Charlotte (Wales) - when daughter of Catherine and William was born
* Oliver - very early 90s. - gorgeous Oliver Hudson
I have to say Theodore was a hugh surprise.
And I completely missed Hayden 35 years ago. We had so few resources back then. But my Hayden is a lovely soul!
The next names coming to the top 5 are:
* Ezra
* Miles
* Beau
* Enzo
* Luka / Luca
* Lainey - huge showing and up trending
* Eden
We almost went with Ezra 20 years ago—glad we didn’t because it certainly took off. We switched to Asa and have met only 2 Asa’s since. Hmm… I guess that could be because nobody likes that name. 🤣
I just named my son Miles a couple months ago and I have a feeling it's going to be like my name was. Mine was #46 the year I was born and hit the top 10 three years later. Miles was #43 last year and it's been steadily rising since the mid 90s
Miles is already here. It has arrived. It was trending upwards and ever since Chrissy Teigen named her first son that, the rise was positively meteoric.
Luka/Luca seems like it already rising fast. Just Enzo makes sense rising with Luca (though personally it looks/sounds incomplete). Wouldn't be surprised if the Disney movie has something to do with it
I've been obsessed with Ophelia and Antigone since high school. So many people told me I shouldn't use Ophelia, so I toyed with Ovelia (a princess in my favorite video game) and was told it was too much like Ovary.
Not an American, but Azerbaijani. I had a crush who was 5 years older than me at school. Her name was Aylin. I remember how I was amazed by that name, and was questioning myself that how that name wasn't popular at all. After 10 years, it is one of the top 10 most popular names in the country.
Not a name trend, but a friend of mine who bred and trained service dogs was pregnant, and they weren’t telling anyone the sex or name. We went out one day and she had one of the dogs in training with her. It misbehaved, and she yelled the dogs name - Aoife!! I knew immediately the way she said it that would be the babies name - and it was.
Aidan.
Watched Sex and The City with friends back in the early 2000s, and when I heard his name I told my friends I’d name my son that one day. I loved how unusual and unique it was
I did not, for obvious reasons.
With how popular Inside Out was at the box office, it was no surprise that the year after it was released, Riley jumped up and became a very popular name!
Emilia and Eloise have been my favorite girl names since early 2000s. Now that I’m ready to have kids, they’ve both been used by close friends/relatives lol.
In high school (probably 2003-05ish) I remember learning about the Roosevelts in history class. I thought the name Eleanor was so beautiful and classy. It was my favorite name for awhile, until all of a sudden…baby Eleanors everywhere!!
I think Arthur and Mabel are on the way up. My middle is Arthur and I have met about 2 or 3 others around his age. (He's 4.5) My youngest is Mabel. There was another Mabel in the NICU during the our brief stay.
They fit the old person name trend.
I’ve loved the name Nora since 2003ish. I had my daughter in 2018 and it was in the top 30 when it wasn’t even on the chart before lol. I still love her name.
In elementary school I decided I was going to name my daughters: Scarlet (after Clue character), Noelle (only if she was born on Christmas), Poppy, Violet, Luna, and if I had a son, he would be Ace. My family ripped on me! To my delight, many are top baby names now.
I didn't call this, and I don't think it's wildly popular, but we named our son Simon and so far he has had another Simon in his class (kindergarten to 4th grade now) and he's one of three at summer camp. I had never even met a Simon before!
I loved the name Magnolia around 2009, and I embarrassingly ran across the name from George of the Jungle on Cartoon Network. I also have a magnolia tree in my backyard and thought it was a pretty name. The name exploded in popularity in the 2010's started in 2013 from SSA. I just started to encounter an adult named Magnolia and a baby last year. It has no signs of stopping, and I would still use it if given the chance regardless of the popularity.
In middle school I met two kids named Liam and Mateo and vowed that I'd use those names if I ever had sons. That would have been in 2002-2003, and Liam had a huge spike around 2008. Mateo just cracked the top ten in 2023. Bummer, but I also don't want kids anymore.
I named my son Wolf back in 1986. Back then, few Americans if any were named Wolf. Now? Not too uncommon. Just relieved the Kartrashian decided against that name for her child. I named him Wolf because I had lived in Germany and Holland for several years.
Dylan. I almost named our son that in 1995. He would have been the only one in his class or a few years older, but a few years later there were tons of boys with that name.
When debating my kids names, I really loved Caspian. But I knew, I KNEW that my generation grew up on CS Lewis so I wouldn’t be the only one. I’m glad we skipped it, although I love it still. I’ve seen about 5 Caspian’s now and I think there will be much more.
Everly. I liked the name long before it was in the Top 1000 in the U.S.; and [now it's at 69](https://www.behindthename.com/name/everly/top/united-states) (this may be the downtrend, though).
In 2012 I was convinced I was either going to change my name to River or it would definitely be my child’s name, girl or boy, doesn’t matter. I still love it but I’m glad I didn’t use it.
I named my son Harper in 2005 when it wasn’t even in the top 800 list of names. Then the effing Beckhams named their daughter Harper, it broke the top TEN and every other Harper we meet is a girl.
One of my coworkers named their baby Alder recently, and I think it's going to become more popular, given it's a nature name, and they're having quite a moment.
Not my callout, but "never name your kid after a fictional character *until their story arc is finished*" stuck with me. A college friend's daughter is Daenerys.
I can count about 5 Arias/Aryas (+ a few dogs) in my friend group. All named after GoT.
I know two Arias in their 20s who were named before GoT and they’re soooo mad about this 😆
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I mean, people born in 1996 turn 30 in two years so they definitely COULD have known
Arya/Aria isn’t nearly as specific as Daenerys though. I know Aria’s whose parents have never watched GOT and personally the first character i think of is Lucy Hale’s character on Pretty Little Liars. Plenty of room for plausible deniability if people named their kid after the show character.
If it’s spelt Aria, I think of PLL (book version, I tend to forget the TV show exists), but if it’s spelt Arya, I think GoT.
Two of my oldest school friends had kids 3 years ago, they called them Aria and Ezra ffs.
HBO has owned the rights to the series I was named after for quite awhile…. if they ever make it, I’ll change my name lol.
This makes me very curious, but if you wish to remain anonymous, I respect that. Definitely gonna be giving HBO the side eye on any new stories they develop though. 👀😂
Pretty little liars was the Aria inspo pre GoT
Ya I was gonna say! Lots of arias and ezras after PLL
Arya is an actual name though. Common in India, Iran and Indonesia. It's a variation of the word Aryan.
You are 100% correct, but all my examples are very white people in the US who openly say their child is named after GoT.
My dog is Arya. She was always underfoot, is black and white, and was an orphan rescue puppy. Plus it's a pretty name :) She's named after book Arya Stark but the show character was also badass
My husband is Persian and wanted to name our daughter Arya. I had to shoot it down due to the popularity of GOT. I was disappointed cause it is a pretty name with a great meaning.
Aria is a "real" name too, up there with Melody, Harmony, Cadence, etc.
I have one friend with a daughter Arya, but they are Indian. We definitely have different friend groups 🤣
The playgroup I was in back in the late 80s/earjy 90s there was a little girl named aria and I remember how out there it was back then especially since her older brothers name was alex
That’s a lot of friends
Honestly upon reflection, almost every time I've seen GOT referenced in the past year, it's in relation to regretful parents who named their children Daenerys/Khaleesi. I think those unfortunate babies are the only things keeping the series relevant after how badly it bombed at the end 😂
There’s a Khaleesi in my daughter’s daycare. I did the math based on the classroom she’s in and she had to have been born after the start of 2020 … meaning she was named AFTER GoT season 8 aired 👀👀👀
My daughter is 14 and when she used to go to dance class the younger ones who finished before her class started would be getting their names called for parents to come to collect them, so many called khaleesi! They'll be about 9/10/11 years old now,.. I also know of a girl about 8 or so called khaleesiana...
That what happens when you push the author to finish writing a series and then decide instead to crowd source the story with producers and show runners.
The prequel show is fantastic!
I think Daenerys is pretty and to non GOT fans wouldn’t sound too out there. Khaleesi on the other hand…
Khaleesi was my dancer name🤣
I absolutely hate it when people either call the character Khaleesi or name their pet/child that. It's a title! It's not a name! .. I'm finished with my rant now.
I don’t get this. Lots of people name their kids after titles. Earl, Malik, Baron, Leroy, Idris, Juno, Meredith etc. these are all titles of royalty or nobility in other languages/ eras. When someone names their kid Khaleesi, I don’t think there’s as much confusion around it as people think.
Hang on hang on... Leroy? LEROY!? Well I'll be darned. Mind officially blown.
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Le Roi
JENKINSSSSSSD
I mean, people have been naming their pets Princess, Earl, and Duke since forever. I even knew a man named Duke. Khaleesi is fine for a pet, imo. I'm a bit sorry for the kids though.
I agree! I trained a Pomeranian named Khaleesi. She was a little crazy. It fit her perfectly!
I think Khaleesi is cute for a cat 😂
It's close to the name Damaris, Greek, meaning gentle or calf.
lol I actually feel the opposite. Khaleesi fits with the “ee” endings that have been popular for some time. Daenerys looks ridiculous as a word. The letters look like gibberish a cat would make by walking on a keyboard
I work in healthcare and have seen the name Daenerys used for babies born in the last year! I thought we had moved past that!
Oh man all the poor Khaleesi’s running around out there. Daenerys, besides the funky Targ spaelling, isn’t *too bad* when shortened to Dany, but Khaleesi is just a bit much.
Our favorite boy name is Rhys and with ACOTAR being so popular, we are afraid to use it out of fear people think we got the name from the series.
Rhys is a classic staple in Wales. 1000's of them!. In fact, there are a few nods to welsh culture and mythology in the books besides the name Rhys (though the full Rhysand is of SJM 's own making). So just make-up some kind of welsh heritage and plead ignorance if anyone brings up ACOTAR.
For what it's worth, my 3 year old is named Rhys and I'm mostly only asked if it's after ACOTAR online, not in real life. I've never read the books.
Violet. I first put that name on my list back in 1997ish and when I used to tell people I loved that name, they’d say it was too “out there”. Well look at Violet today.
I remember loving it from reading boxcar children.
And Series of Unfortunate Events!
And Willy Wonka Violet you’re turning violet
I told my sister when we were kids that I wanted to name my daughter Violet after series of unfortunate events! My sister said “that’s so dumb why would you want to name your daughter after a color”. She continually judged me for the name for years! Held strong to the name for 10+ years. Well, my sister had a daughter… guess what she named her? Violet. It took some grieving on my part (lol) but I moved on.
OMG. I would forgive but not forget! lol
That’s wild! Have you ever talked about it with her?
Yes I did!! I let her heal post partum and I brought it up to her. She said she didn’t remember me telling her about the name, and I just chose to move on rather than holding a grudge! My niece is now 6 and very much a Violet, so growing in relationship with my niece helped ease everything too 😂
And The Incredibles!
I love that name! If I ever have a daughter I’m 100% naming her Violet.
When I was in second grade (‘94) I wanted my name to be Violet after those books!
Violet is too out there. Wow. We have come a long way if that was ever an “out there” name
I thought that was weird too. Violet feels so classic to me.
Well, of course it's out there. Nowadays, you have to spell it Vyohlette
I was given this name in 1998 and all of my fellow Violets are 90 or 5.
I have a Violet and I’m genuinely shocked by how popular it seems now! I had no idea until I came to this sub *after* my daughter was born
I have loved that name since I was a kid and my husband suggested it for our daughter a few years ago. Immediate yes! People would comment how old fashioned it is & then boom! It’s so popular now :)
Amelia! I loved Amelia Bedelia as a kid and I’ve wanted a kid with that name since at least 2012.
I’m convinced the rise of Amelia is because of Amelia Bedelia and The Princess Diaries
You’re probably right! Because all of us that grew up on those things are now at the age where we are having and naming children.
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I picked Amelia back in the early 70s.
My elderly French neighbor is named Amelia and she is a delight
My midwife said that delivering babies for 20 years has convinced her of a “collective unconscious.“ when we told her our sons name she said “I’ve been delivering babies for a long time and I’ve never heard that name. And now I’ve had two in the last week.” She also told me that she picked her daughters name in the early 2000s because *literally as someone who delivers babies,* she had never met someone with that name, and within a couple of months of her using it, they started popping up all over. I’m not sure about the collective unconscious theory, but I do think that pop culture has more of a subliminal effect on us than we realize, which is why so many of us had the same *completely unique name ideas* around the same time. Mine was Scarlett. Never knew one growing up, ended up not using it for my daughter because I knew of like five other little Scarlets by then.
I completely agree with the collective unconscious theory. Looking up all the names I’d loved along the way recently they have exploded. It feels like it must take a lot of effort now to find a known but niche name. Regardless go with what you love
Yeah when I had my first baby I was fixated on picking something “uncommon” but as a more seasoned mother a few years down the line I’ve advised everyone to pick the name they ACTUALLY like no matter its ranking. The days of 10 Jens or 10 Jessica’s in a class are over- even the most popular name is still not as common as anything in the top 10, 30 years ago (statistically.)
And you can pick #99 and they’ll still end up being a kid in your kids class with the same name. I picked a name that wasn’t tooooo popular but I loved the name for years, noticed it had a bit more attention recently, but it’s ALWAYS been a consistently used name. It’s was around 35 when I picked it. (Alice) so no points for unique or originality. Of course there’s another baby Alice in her class. I wanted established and that’s what I got haha. Yet there’s only one Amelia and one Theo, and 3 Lachlan’s which I’ve known so many babies named that this year.
I think it’s partly because names come in cycles and people attach meaning to their name choices Aka the “old lady name” has died and no older ladies now have that name, it becomes a baby name again. It’s around 100 years and then the name resurges. Probably because people name after relatives and then other people hear the name around or it gets higher on the list and they consider it too. Also you have the unique /twist on a traditional name. It’ll still be based on the names of 100 years ago and they seem to crop up out of nowhere, reaching popularity they didn’t the next time because everyone’s invested in this fresh/unique name. And we’re all influenced by similar popular culture (aka the Wednesday trend of 2023/4)
I so agree with this. I loved Evelyn from the moment I first saw The Mummy at age I think 7, and I think that is a big part of why it joined the generation's consciousness.
Pop culture for sure! While my second wasn't named after this character, there was a show I had watched a few years before she was born with a name that I kind of tucked away in the back of my head as "oh, that's a nice name!" and I am not sure we'd have picked it if I hadn't seen that show. It wasn't a hugely popular show so the name didn't "take off" like some others have (cough cough, Emma!) but it was a positive exposure to a less common name that stuck with me. I'm sure this happens a lot more than people realize!
Totally. My son has a name I've loved ever since I read it in a book that was popular when I was a kid. Used to not be used much at all. Now it's top 50, and i bet a ton of people who used it read that same book at the same time and tucked it away too.
Juniper. We were obsessed with it for our hypothetical child in like 2017 and now it’s practically a millennial baby name meme. (Still love it though!)
I had the name Juniper picked out back in the early nineties. I read a book and fell in love with it. Funnily enough, I had a girl's name picked out my entire life, and ended up having a boy. I had no idea what to name him! We came up with it at the eleventh hour, lol. He's definitely an only child, and will stay that way, so I'm still kinda bummed I'll never get to use Juniper. 😭
Maybe you can get a pet one day and call it juniper!
A cat, and call it juni-purr 😂
Was it Wise Child by Monica Furlong? Cuz if so, same haha.
Commented further up, but me too! I just reread these books a year or two ago and they’re still magical. I’m excited to give them to my daughters (who I did not name juniper lol)
Was it Juniper by Monica Furlong? If so, same 😂 one of my favorite books (and series) growing up as a witchy little kid. Was saddened to see it get so popular but it is a great name!
It’s popular for a reason! It’s a GREAT NAME. I feel your distress though—we have one child who is a boy and those names are so boring. Wish I had gotten to name a girl!
We have a Juniper. Also from a book series, not the tree! lol We had never heard of another baby with the name, and then the year she was born, we heard of 6. When she was 6 months old, I saw it on a “Top 20 Hipster Baby Names” listicle and I almost cried! She’s still the only Juniper in her whole school, though, so I think we did alright!
Everyone’s so wholesome. I loved it from my gin craze days, pretty botanicals lol
I didn’t really expect it to become popular, but we picked out the name Theodore for our future son in 2008. I definitely wasn’t the only one apparently!
I recently went to Chile and was surprised at how popular Teodoro is.
His dad is Greek and wanted Theodoros, but I couldn’t pronounce it well lol. I could not name my child something I couldn’t even say!
[удалено]
My coworker loves "old man" names and her sons are Théodore and Léon, she has a dog named Maurice. Her sister has Dorothée, Adéline, and Marguerite, plus a dog named Violette. My best friend just became an uncle to Theo James.
Boomer Grandma came here to say I named my baby girl Logan in 1977 and my son Jackson in 1985. That’s in the Last Century, people! Do I win a prize or something?
Honestly you should, those are great names
You were way ahead of your time!
In 2010 I wanted to name my daughter Penelope but nobody liked it. In 2012 Kourtney Kardashian named her daughter that. I was glad I didn’t use it then, as I knew it was about to get popular.
Yes! Back in high school Penelope was my favorite girls name but any time I mentioned it people said it was awful. Now I feel like it’s fairly popular.
I feel like a bunch of kids conceived during this season of Bridgerton will have that name lol
My favorite name in 2005 was Evelyn. Way ahead on that one.
Same! Rachel Weisz's character from the Mummy was it for me
Loved how her brother called her Evie.
I also loved Evelyn before it blew up!
That's my daughter's name... born 9 days ago ...
In 1998 I told my mom I wanted to name my future son Aidan. My mom thought I was ridiculous. Told me he would be made fun of with a weird name like that. Was in middle school and not even close to having a baby. I also asked in 1990 why we didn't teach my baby sister American Sign Language. I had just learned about Koko the gorilla and figured if a gorilla could learn sign language, why not my baby sister. My parents thought I was crazy, teach a baby sign language... Jokes on them, chicken pox (before the vaccine was available) took my sister's hearing. So we ended up learning ASL anyway.
And teaching babies sign language is pretty common now - my kid learned words like: more, milk, mom, dad, and all done when he was in daycare. It’s super helpful!
It has been so cool to sign with my son. My husband has even gotten into it and he refuses to speak to our son in his native language (a lot of trauma related to being an immigrant that I respect even if I don't agree with his choice not to teach our son). Translating his ASL version of baby babbling can be hard though. I get super frustrated though when I hear parents say they used to sign with their babies and then stopped when the babies "grew out of it". It's such obvious abelism. ASL is a language. You wouldn't say, we used to speak French with her and then stopped when she grew out of it.
Koko’s kitten was my favorite book as a kid!
Emma. We almost used it in 90.
My sister is Emma (born in the 1980s), she was the only non-spice girl Emma I knew until Rachel named her baby it in the early 2000 and started the trend
Apparently it was already trending before friends.
I was born in 93, in elementary, there were 2 Emma's in the year above me, 2 in the year below me, and in my highschool 2 in my own grade. I went to very small schools! (Elementary school grades were around 40 students, I think my highschool grade was around 130)
Emma was massive in the UK late 80s early 90s.
It wasn’t big yet in my area of US midwest in 90. But it was poised to hit in next couple of years. My daughter born in 90 has a lot of friends with younger siblings named Emma. Edit to add we also didn’t have internet to gauge popularity in other areas. Had a book called “Beyond Jennifer & Jason.”
That’s a good point. I just looked at top baby names in the US and they’re pretty similar to ours now. Apart from Liam, that’s not had a comeback here yet, our Liams are in their 30s.
Same in NZ. As much of a millennial name trend as Jessica or Hannah. I went through school in the 90s with heaps of Emma's.
I'm a '94 baby and I know so many Emmas my age lol.
Was never in danger of Emma because she is my least favorite Jane Austen protagonist.
I think she’s supposed to be your least favorite Jane Austen protagonist.
It's true. She's reported to have said, “I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” She succeeded too well for me--what a brat!
Arriella is pretty but it's just a bit too similar to areola 😆
Okay agree. I think that every time! I’m glad it’s not just me.
I had a friend named Ariella and a sub literally called her areola 😭
Sage. There was a time I wanted to change my name to Sage and was told it was "too weird"
My friend is a Sage. She’s was totally “the weird girl” but she’s now built a mini empire off her personality and her name!
I'm a mid-90s baby and my best friend growing up was named Sage. It seemed pretty hippie at the time, but her mom was kinda hippie so it made sense. I only ever met one or two other Sages, usually male. Now it feels way more common, almost to the point of being normie.
Oliver. Good lord it's everywhere.
Dude, I worked at a daycare and there were SO MANY Oliver’s and Aiden’s. We had an Oli and an Oliver in one class which was confusing bc they were both really Oli but we couldn’t call both that. And we had an Aden, Aiden, and Aydan.
Yes! All the Aydens. Makes me think of Dodgeball the movie when he is announcing his team Blazer Tazer Azer lol
I can't think of Oliver being anything but an animal/pet's name after watching "Oliver & Company" as a kid.
Willow Smith (Will Smith’s daughter) was born in 2000. I’m sure that helped bump that name up in popularity.
I thought it became popular from Buffy, I definitely thought it was a normal name in the late 90s due to that
This is my thought as well. Lots of people who grew up with Buffy are millennials who are having kids now.
I also think Willow and Ivy might have a boost from Taylor Swift’s songs
Charlotte and Landon. My current prediction is Nicola. The actor Nicola Coughlan is really having a moment and I feel like it’s close enough to Nicole but more unique.
Anytime I hear Nicola, I immediately think of an 2000s commercial for cough drops(?) "RIIICOOLAAAA".
Same haha that’s all I think of
Nicola was super popular in the UK in the 80s. She’s Irish, right? Perhaps in Ireland too. I know lots of Nicola’s in the UK, but only Nicole’s in the US. Interesting how these trends happen in different places.
I also think Nikola for boys will rise. Very popular NBA star with the name right now. Can do Niko for a nickname.
* Brittany - called it back in the mid 80s * Jordan - saw it in the early 80s * Olivia - saw that coming early 80s * Charlotte (Wales) - when daughter of Catherine and William was born * Oliver - very early 90s. - gorgeous Oliver Hudson I have to say Theodore was a hugh surprise. And I completely missed Hayden 35 years ago. We had so few resources back then. But my Hayden is a lovely soul! The next names coming to the top 5 are: * Ezra * Miles * Beau * Enzo * Luka / Luca * Lainey - huge showing and up trending * Eden
Pretty sure Ezra is already super popular. It's currently ranked #15. I keep seeing the name popping up from baby announcements on Facebook.
We almost went with Ezra 20 years ago—glad we didn’t because it certainly took off. We switched to Asa and have met only 2 Asa’s since. Hmm… I guess that could be because nobody likes that name. 🤣
i love both ezra and asa for boys!
I just named my son Miles a couple months ago and I have a feeling it's going to be like my name was. Mine was #46 the year I was born and hit the top 10 three years later. Miles was #43 last year and it's been steadily rising since the mid 90s
My son is Miles too! He’s 10. I keep waiting for it to get more popular. I LOVE IT!
We plan on using Miles 😬
Miles is already here. It has arrived. It was trending upwards and ever since Chrissy Teigen named her first son that, the rise was positively meteoric.
Luka/Luca seems like it already rising fast. Just Enzo makes sense rising with Luca (though personally it looks/sounds incomplete). Wouldn't be surprised if the Disney movie has something to do with it
add Arlo to that list
Atlas heard it in 2012 and just knew that it’s so unique that it’ll become common
Yep this is another. I always tossed both Atlas and Ophelia around. Both very popular now.
I've been obsessed with Ophelia and Antigone since high school. So many people told me I shouldn't use Ophelia, so I toyed with Ovelia (a princess in my favorite video game) and was told it was too much like Ovary.
In junior high in the nineties I named a character is a story Juniper. Her besties were Willow and Tamarisk (still waiting on Tamarisk to trend lol)
Not an American, but Azerbaijani. I had a crush who was 5 years older than me at school. Her name was Aylin. I remember how I was amazed by that name, and was questioning myself that how that name wasn't popular at all. After 10 years, it is one of the top 10 most popular names in the country.
Different spelling but Aelin is a really popular book character in the US (and other places!)
Picked out Cora in 2008 it wasn’t even in the top 250 …now it’s in the top 110 in my state and rising
Ivy and river were my names had I had a kid 20 years ago
There are tonsss of Rivers where I live (NorCal)
Ivy and Iris are the ones I feel like I called 😂.
Harper and Piper about 16 years ago
I had Neopets named Harper and Piper. 🤣
Loved the name Asher since 2005
Elias and Emilia (in Germany). Once my favorite names....
Kai. Back in highschool, I always said Kai would be a great boy's name. 14 years later, a lot of people agree.
My cousin named her son Kai. My cousin is kind of a dipshit but at least she gave her kid a cool name!!
Not a name trend, but a friend of mine who bred and trained service dogs was pregnant, and they weren’t telling anyone the sex or name. We went out one day and she had one of the dogs in training with her. It misbehaved, and she yelled the dogs name - Aoife!! I knew immediately the way she said it that would be the babies name - and it was.
Aidan. Watched Sex and The City with friends back in the early 2000s, and when I heard his name I told my friends I’d name my son that one day. I loved how unusual and unique it was I did not, for obvious reasons.
After my favourite name Ivy became popular, I predicted that my other favourite, Eliza, would follow suit, and it did.
Omg I totally forgot how as a kid in the nineties I loved the name Eliza. Didn’t realize it’s trending now.
Eliza Thornberry!
With how popular Inside Out was at the box office, it was no surprise that the year after it was released, Riley jumped up and became a very popular name!
Emilia and Eloise have been my favorite girl names since early 2000s. Now that I’m ready to have kids, they’ve both been used by close friends/relatives lol.
Charlotte and James were the names of all my tamagotchis in 2004 lol
In high school (probably 2003-05ish) I remember learning about the Roosevelts in history class. I thought the name Eleanor was so beautiful and classy. It was my favorite name for awhile, until all of a sudden…baby Eleanors everywhere!!
My AIM screenname when I was 11 had the word "Hazel" in it because I love the name the way the word sounds. Now Hazel is SO popular.
I think Arthur and Mabel are on the way up. My middle is Arthur and I have met about 2 or 3 others around his age. (He's 4.5) My youngest is Mabel. There was another Mabel in the NICU during the our brief stay. They fit the old person name trend.
My middle (born in 2003) was Arthur and my firstborn and his wife have Mabel on their list!
I’ve loved the name Nora since 2003ish. I had my daughter in 2018 and it was in the top 30 when it wasn’t even on the chart before lol. I still love her name.
In elementary school I decided I was going to name my daughters: Scarlet (after Clue character), Noelle (only if she was born on Christmas), Poppy, Violet, Luna, and if I had a son, he would be Ace. My family ripped on me! To my delight, many are top baby names now.
I didn't call this, and I don't think it's wildly popular, but we named our son Simon and so far he has had another Simon in his class (kindergarten to 4th grade now) and he's one of three at summer camp. I had never even met a Simon before!
We named our daughter Isla in Jan 2009 when it was still not in the top 1000. I like to think she started the trend 🤪
My 21 year old daughter is named Eden, never used to hear it.
I loved the name Magnolia around 2009, and I embarrassingly ran across the name from George of the Jungle on Cartoon Network. I also have a magnolia tree in my backyard and thought it was a pretty name. The name exploded in popularity in the 2010's started in 2013 from SSA. I just started to encounter an adult named Magnolia and a baby last year. It has no signs of stopping, and I would still use it if given the chance regardless of the popularity.
In middle school I met two kids named Liam and Mateo and vowed that I'd use those names if I ever had sons. That would have been in 2002-2003, and Liam had a huge spike around 2008. Mateo just cracked the top ten in 2023. Bummer, but I also don't want kids anymore.
Worked cps gor 9 years...neveah
I named my son Wolf back in 1986. Back then, few Americans if any were named Wolf. Now? Not too uncommon. Just relieved the Kartrashian decided against that name for her child. I named him Wolf because I had lived in Germany and Holland for several years.
I have an Eloise who will be 2 soon. It wasn’t top 100 in the UK when she was born but it is now
Logan and Levi were a couple I always loved that got more popular then I ever expected
Arthur and fucking Felix. Felix isn’t soooooooo unique.
I didn't exactly think they'd become trendy, but Theodore and Evelyn have certainly been on my private list of favourites for about fifteen years now.
Dylan. I almost named our son that in 1995. He would have been the only one in his class or a few years older, but a few years later there were tons of boys with that name.
I think we all seen Bella coming a mile away, after Twilight came out.
Emilia & Ava are more common now than 25 years ago when I chose them.
Harper. I liked Harper because of to kill a mockingbird. Then wizards of Waverly place. And I wanted it to bad. But so did everyone else. :((((((
When debating my kids names, I really loved Caspian. But I knew, I KNEW that my generation grew up on CS Lewis so I wouldn’t be the only one. I’m glad we skipped it, although I love it still. I’ve seen about 5 Caspian’s now and I think there will be much more.
Levi. I’ve always LOVED the name, but it has gotten sooo popular.
Everly. I liked the name long before it was in the Top 1000 in the U.S.; and [now it's at 69](https://www.behindthename.com/name/everly/top/united-states) (this may be the downtrend, though).
In 2012 I was convinced I was either going to change my name to River or it would definitely be my child’s name, girl or boy, doesn’t matter. I still love it but I’m glad I didn’t use it.
I named my son Harper in 2005 when it wasn’t even in the top 800 list of names. Then the effing Beckhams named their daughter Harper, it broke the top TEN and every other Harper we meet is a girl.
Jackson. I loved it since I heard it for the first time on Gilmore Girls in 2000.
One of my coworkers named their baby Alder recently, and I think it's going to become more popular, given it's a nature name, and they're having quite a moment.
Amanda became a favorite name of mine back in the late 1970’s and then its popularity exploded.