Pop culture baby name game, 2014

pop culture baby name game 2014

Every year on December 2 (happy birthday Britney Spears!) we start another round of the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game. It’s not a “game” really, but more of a group brainstorm. Between today and next May, we try to guess which baby names saw increased usage in 2014 thanks to popular culture — music, movies, television, video games, sports, politics, current events, products/advertising, and so forth.

Here are all the 2014 predictions we’ve made so far. Many of the below come from longtime commenters elbowin and Julie — thanks you guys!

Which names would you add to this list? (Please remember to add a reason, so we all know the context!)

New Predictions as they come in:

  • Urban – from Diana (12/2)
  • Peter – from Abby (12/2)
  • Noni – from Becca (12/2)
  • Kaz – from Becca (12/2)
  • Murphy (for girls specifically) – from Becca (12/2)
  • Scotland/Scotlyn – from Becca (12/2)
  • Lupita – from Becca (12/2)
  • Benedict – from Becca (12/2)
  • Diem – from Becca (12/2)
  • Rosamund – from Becca (12/2)
  • Annalise – from Julie (12/2)
  • Azalea – from Gina (12/3)
  • Kaiser – from Gina (12/3)
  • Aman – from me (12/4)
  • Judith – from Dellitt (12/5)
  • Margaret – from jaime (12/6)
  • Vale – from Gwen (12/10)
  • Diren – elbowin (12/18)
  • Amal – from me (1/15)
  • Ledisi – from me (2/12)
  • Keke – 2/25

Previous rounds of the Pop Culture Baby Name Game: 2013, 2012, 2011 #1, 2011 #2, 2010.

16 thoughts on “Pop culture baby name game, 2014”

  1. Urban. (Pronounced the same as “relating to a city region”.) Urban Meyer is the head coach for The Ohio State University football team. As unusual as name as it seems, he is the third generation in the family to have the first name of “Urban”. Usage could also be spurred by “Keith Urban” (pronounced with long “a”) who is a singer/songwriter.

  2. Is it too soon to say Peter? My kids are looking forward to the December 4th live action version of Peter Pan on television, and the trailer for Pan – Peter Pan’s origin story – is already running in theaters, even though the release date is July 2015.

  3. Noni and Kaz, from the film Beyond the Lights.
    Murphy (female), from the film Interstellar.
    Scotland/Scotlyn, because of the independence referendum.
    Lupita, from Lupita Nyong’o – Well, she won an Oscar and was People magazine’s Most Beautiful Woman, but it’s actually her adorable recent appearance on Sesame Street that makes me wonder if a rise in little Lupitas will occur…
    Benedict, from the increasingly ubiquitous (at least on the internet) Benedict Cumberbatch.
    Diem, from the recently deceased Diem Brown.

  7. Aman – Tyler Perry and girlfriend welcomed a baby boy named Aman Tyler Perry last weekend. (Might be too late in the year to influence the charts, but you never know.)

  9. Margaret may get a bit of a boost, it’s Daniel Tiger’s new baby sister’s name on Daniel Tigers Neighborhood.

  10. The movie Selma is going to open too late to affect the charts in 2014, but I’m guessing we’ll see more babies named Selma in 2015. (Just making note of it here so I remember.)

  12. Another one (so I don’t know how much impact the story has in the USA) Diren (m)—A Turkish-German pupil deliberately shot in Missoula, Montana by a house owner claiming the infamous “Stand your Ground” laws.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.