Pop culture baby name game, 2010

Britney Spears album

Know what today is? It’s Britney Spears’ birthday! (Come on, you didn’t already know that?)

So today is the perfect day to start playing the Pop Culture Baby Name Game.

What’s that? It’s a game in which we try to predict which pop culture-inspired baby names will appear on the SSA’s official baby name list for the first time in 2010. Danity and Daughtry made it for the first time in 2007, Obama and Palin in 2008, the infamous Renesmee in 2009…which pop culture baby names will make their debut in 2010?

Think back to notable occurrences of 2010 and late 2009. Think about movies, music, books, video games, sports, politics, products, and whatever else made headlines and/or caught your attention. What brand-new baby names might these things have inspired?

Here are some possibilities I’ve already blogged about:

Another that has since come to mind is Etsy, which looks and sounds like Betsy with the B chopped off.

What other potential names can you think of? (Remember — oddball names like Chachi and Darth have made the SSA’s list in years past, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box on this!)

25 thoughts on “Pop culture baby name game, 2010

  1. I have a feeling that the name Tenley (for a girl) will be on the list. She was one of the women on the Bachelor show on ABC, and then on a subsequent related show called Bachelor Pad (or something like that).

  2. I’m not sure if they got enough press for this to count as a Pop Culture name, but the reality series about the polygamist family – TLC’s Sister Wives – had a newborn Truely. I could see it catching on.

  3. Katniss was my first thought, maybe add Primrose and Gale from the same books. All the hype about the series, and the movie deal….

  4. Kindle
    Hulu
    Android
    Bristol
    Middleton
    Kardashian (or any name that ususally begins with a C beginning with a K)

  5. Great ideas!

    In fact, a lot of these have already shown up on the SSA’s list. (They just weren’t in the top 1,000.) But I think many of them will become more popular, thanks to pop culture.

    The ones that have never been listed before (out of all the comments so far) are Truely, Hulu, Android, Kardashian, Sookie, and Middleton (for girls). Any of these could be contenders, I think.

    Another possibility that crossed my mind was Ceelo, for Cee Lo Green. I’ve been hearing his name a lot lately, for whatever reason.

    I also think the name Glee could make a comeback. (It was last listed in 1971.)

  6. I think Neytiri could be a hot name, as a little sister to parents loving created ‘pretty’ names like Neveah. Or perhaps Neytiri might flourish in geek circles, as a little sister to an Eowyn or Galadriel.

  7. My third daughter is named Suki, but hers is short for Sakura. Sookie is a cute spelling, though. (our spelling is the more traditional Anglicazation of the Japanese nickname)

    This was after the southern vampire series, but before TruBlood. But I also have a daughter n-named Buffy, short for Bronwen. Therefore most people assume there’s a Sookie connection with our Suki.

  8. Gabourey! I can’t believe we forgot Gabourey Sidibe. Precious was released in late 2009, and Gabby came close to winning an Oscar in early 2010.

  9. Latisse, maybe? It’s been around for a couple of years, but Claire Danes and Brooke Sheilds became spokespeople for the brand in 2010.

  10. Even though this doesn’t really pertain to this year, I think Miley after Miley Cyrus probably was used a few times. I live in small town and I know 2 little girls named Miley after Miley Cyrus.

  11. Ok, totally random:

    Clary (I’m surprised if it’s not in there already)
    Gaga
    Glee
    Quorra
    Katara
    Katsa

  12. O, I see Clary is on the list, just not in the top 1000 – I predict that with the book and movie to come, it will break the 1000 soon.

    I think Shay or Shae will also make it in the top 1000 soon, or will at least go up.

    I also wonder if Betty will go up in popularity, with all the attention for the actress this past year.

    Natal – Microsoft game

    Apolo – Olympics, gold medalist.

    Miga- Olympics mascot

  13. Coming back to this, I wonder if any references to the Millennium trilogy will make it on the list or up to the top 1000 (like Lisbeth).

  14. Maybe Justin could rise in the charts a bit, but Bieber is definitely a last name that should stay a last name. I don’t know how I would feel if my kids with the last name of Bieber all the sudden were in school with a bunch of first name Biebers…

  15. Ok, game over! We came up with some good ones — let’s see if we got any.

    Looking only at names that have never been on the SSA’s baby name list before…

    Yes: Neytiri (15 girls), Sookie (10 girls)

    No: Android, Benry, Bieber, Cudi, Debrahlee, Etsy, Eywa, Fifa, Gabourey, Gaga, Hulu, Kardashian, Katniss, Katsa, Latisse, Middleton, Miga, Natal, Naonka, Quorra, Sash, Taio, Toruk, Truely

    This doesn’t mean the “No” names weren’t used at all — just that they weren’t used by enough babies (5+) to make the SSA’s list.

    What names did we miss? For girls, Malillany, Bethenny, Naleigh. For boys, Jeffren, Brees, Neymar. And dozens more. Here are lists of girl names and boy names that debuted last year.

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