Pop culture baby name game, 2016

pop culture baby name game, 2016

It’s December 2 — the doubly momentous day on which Britney Spears celebrates her birthday and on which we start another round of the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game.

Which baby names will see significant movement on the charts in 2016 thanks to popular culture (TV, movies, music, sports, politics, products, current events, video games, etc.)? Below are some possibilities. Leave a comment with the names you’d add — and don’t forget to mention the pop culture influence.

  • Addison – Chicago Cubs winning season
  • Adonis – movie Creed (suggested by Becca)
  • Ajax – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Alessia – singer Alessia Cara (suggested by Ebony)
  • Ali – death of Muhammad Ali
  • Angel (f) – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Angel Dust – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Aroldis – Chicago Cubs winning season/World Series
  • Auli’i – movie Moana
  • Barron – son of president-elect Donald Trump (suggested by Andrea)
  • Bebe – singer Bleta “Bebe” Rexha (suggested by Ebony)
  • Bernie – presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (suggested by elbowin)
  • Bison – new national mammal & Dakota Access pipeline protests
  • Boomer – son of Michael Phelps
  • Bowie – musician David Bowie
  • Broncs – son of Mackenzie McKee (late suggestion by me)
  • Camila – singer Camila Cabello (suggested by Ebony)
  • Canaan – son of Oprah Winfrey
  • Chyna – pro-wrestler Chyna (late suggestion by me)
  • Clark – Chicago Cubs winning season
  • Cohen – death of Leonard Cohen
  • Creed – movie Creed (suggested by Julie and Becca)
  • Cub – Chicago Cubs winning season
  • Cubby – Chicago Cubs winning season
  • Cyrus – TV miniseries Roots
  • Curiosity – Mars rover (suggested by elbowin)
  • Dak – NFL player Rayne Dakota “Dak” Prescott (late suggestion by me)
  • Daya – singer Daya (suggested by Ebony)
  • Dexter – Chicago Cubs winning season/World Series
  • Dopinder – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Doris – movie Hello, My Name Is Doris
  • Dory – movie Finding Dory (suggested by Randi)
  • Draymond – NBA player Draymond Green (late suggestion by me)
  • Dream – latest Kardashian baby (late suggestion by me)
  • Eleven – TV show Stranger Things (late suggestion by me)
  • Elle – singer Elle King (suggested by Ebony)
  • Emayatzy – TV miniseries Roots
  • E’myri – TV miniseries Roots
  • Esperanto – number of speakers (suggested by elbowin)
  • Francis – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Greyson – son of JWoww
  • Halsey – singer Halsey (suggested by Ebony)
  • Hamilton – musical Hamilton
  • Harriet – Harriet Tubman, chosen to appear on $20 bill
  • Hermine – Hurricane Hermine (late suggestion by me)
  • Hillary – presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
  • Ingwen – Tsai Ing-wen, president of Taiwan (suggested by elbowin)
  • Ivanka – daughter of president-elect Donald Trump (suggested by elbowin)
  • Jikan – death of Leonard Cohen (suggested by elbowin)
  • Jonbenet – anniversary of the death of JonBenet Ramsey
  • Juno – NASA space probe
  • Jupiter – NASA space probe
  • Lorca – death of Leonard Cohen (suggested by elbowin)
  • Luna – daughter of John Legend & Chrissy Teigen
  • Keanu – Key & Peele movie Keanu
  • Kehlani – musician Kehlani (late suggestion by me)
  • Kizzy – TV miniseries Roots
  • Kunta – TV miniseries Roots
  • Laremy – NFL player Laremy Tunsil (late suggestion by me)
  • Linmanuel – actor/playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda (late suggestion by me)
  • Lyanna – TV show Game of Thrones
  • Maga – Trump hashtag #MAGA (late suggestion by me)
  • Maisa – Brazilian child actress Maisa da Silva Andrade (late suggestion by me)
  • Malachi – TV miniseries Roots
  • Maui – movie Moana
  • MacGyver – TV show MacGyver (late suggestion by me)
  • Melania – wife of president-elect Donald Trump (suggested by elbowin)
  • Merrick – judge Merrick Garland, former Supreme Court nominee (late suggestion by me)
  • Miesha – UFC fighter Miesha Tate (late suggestion by me)
  • Moana – movie Moana
  • Monica – Puerto Rican Olympian Monica Puig (I’m curious about the rankings in Puerto Rico specifically; Monica fell out of the top 100 in PR after 2002.)
  • Mountain – daughter of actress Jena Malone
  • Moushumi – TV show The Voice (late suggestion by me)
  • Mowgli – movie The Jungle Book
  • Muhammad – death of Muhammad Ali
  • Murray – Chicago Cubs winning season/World Series
  • Ode – daughter of actress Jena Malone
  • Omran – Syrian boy Omran Daqneesh
  • Onyx – daughter of Alanis Morissette
  • Phiona – movie Queen of Katwe
  • Paisley – death of Prince
  • Prince – death of Prince (suggested by elbowin)
  • Queen – TV show Queen Sugar & movie Queen of Katwe
  • Regé-Jean – TV miniseries Roots
  • Rihanna – singer Rihanna (suggested by Ebony)
  • Rio – location of the 2016 Summer Olympics
  • Rykiel – death of Sonia Rykiel (suggested by elbowin)
  • Sanders – presidential candidate Bernie Sanders
  • Simone – gymnast Simone Biles & daughter of John Legend & Chrissy Teigen
  • Solace – daughter of Alanis Morissette
  • Sully – movie Sully
  • Teresa – canonization of Mother Teresa
  • Teyana – musician Teyana Taylor (late suggestion by me)
  • Tiffany – daughter of president-elect Donald Trump (suggested by elbowin)
  • Trump – president-elect Donald Trump
  • Tulip – movie Storks
  • Usain – runner Usain Bolt (late suggestion by me)
  • Valor – son of JWoww
  • Vanessa – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Voltron – web TV show Voltron: Legendary Defender (late suggestion by me)
  • Wade – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Wilder – death of Gene Wilder (suggested by m4yb3_daijirou)
  • Wilson – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Wrigley – Chicago Cubs winning season
  • Zephyr – U.S. House of Rep. (NY) candidate Zephyr Teachout, who was endorsed by Bernie Sanders. (She was born in Washington state, where Zephyr is particularly popular.)
  • Zobrist – Chicago Cubs winning season/World Series

I’ll post the results next May, when the SSA releases the 2016 baby name data. If you don’t want to miss the results post, please subscribe!

Previous rounds of the Pop Culture Baby Name Game: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011: #1 & #2, 2010.

25 thoughts on “Pop culture baby name game, 2016

  1. Barron or Baron, Trump’s son

    Lianna, Liana, Leanna, etc., breakout Game of Thrones character

  2. Trump often uses the hashtag #MAGA — an acronym for “make America great again.” Makes me wonder if we’ll see the name Maga pop up in 2016. Doubtful, but I wanted to make note of it just in case.

  3. Curiosity—for the Mars rover sending very fine pictures from the rusty planet. Virtue names ending in -ity are already becoming more popular and this one is a nice secular choice both for boys and girls.

  4. I’m a bit late but I didn’t have internet over the last few months but here are some suggestions, all music related and all feminine:
    Halsey – Since Closer was one of the biggest songs of the year a new audience have heard her
    Daya – Don’t let me Down was huge and her follow ups didn’t do too badly either
    Alessia – Alessia Cara
    Bebe – Bebe Rexha
    Camila -Camila Cabello (she was mentioned a lot after leaving 5th Harmony but since it’s already in the top 50 it’d be hard to tell if she had anything to do with it)
    Elle -Elle King
    Rihanna – Since she had her first number 1 in years and a new album it could rise a bit

  5. This is my first nomination for 2017 (this year):

    Libratus

    for the Artificial Intelligence that was able to beat for top poker professionals at the end of January this year.

  6. @elbowin – Just added Libratus to next year’s list, thanks!

    @Ebony – Sorry about the delay, I’ll add them right now!

    Some birth names…

    • Daya = Grace Martine Tandon
    • Elle King = Tanner Elle Schneider
    • Halsey = Ashley Nicolette Frangipane

    And Bebe’s birth name, Bleta, is derived from the Albanian word bletë, meaning “bee.”

  7. Second nomination for 2017

    * Asperitas The name of a new type of cloud included in the new edition of the cloud atlas. A little rough and tough name for a girl …

  8. I don’t know much about the show Stranger Things (the 1st season was released in its entirety in mid-2016) but there’s a female character with a number-name — Eleven — who might end up influencing the charts. Eleven might be the new Seven. :)

  9. I just noticed no Deadpool names are up here yet! I hereby nominate Wade and Wilson (Deadpool’s first and last names), Ajax and Francis (same person), Dopinder, and Vanessa. Maybe Angel (f) or Angel Dust too.

    Somehow I don’t there are going to be any baby girls named “Negasonic Teenage Warhead,” but we can dream, can’t we?

  10. More late entries, culled from Google’s top search terms of 2016 and Google’s breakout searches of 2016:

    Chyna (pro-wrestler Chyna, who died in April)
    Dak (NFL player Dak Prescott)
    Draymond (NBA player Draymond Green)
    Hermine (Hurricane Hermine)
    Kehlani (musician Kehlani) – the top debut name of 2015
    Linmanuel (actor/playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda)
    Laremy (NFL player Laremy Tunsil)
    MacGyver (TV show reboot)
    Maisa (Brazilian child actress Maisa da Silva Andrade)
    Merrick (judge Merrick Garland, former Supreme Court nominee)
    Miesha (UFC fighter Miesha Tate)
    Teyana (musician Teyana Taylor)
    Usain (runner Usain Bolt)
    Voltron (cartoon reboot)

  11. Next suggestion for the year 2017:

    Saffie – the name of the youngest victim of the Birmingham bomb attack. The name is very British and wasn’t yet in the SSA data.

  12. I have to correct: The bomb attack was at Manchester, not Birmingham. Yes, it is a sad story, she was only 8 years old.

    I have no idea what the source of Saffie is, besides Saffron it could also be Saffiya (an Arabic name), Safira, or even Sophia (with a vowel shift).

  13. My next 2017 nomination reflecting the extraordinary hurricane season this year (and I think this one will really be seen)

    Yulín * For the Puerto Rican city mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz who criticised Donald Trump for not sending sufficient help to Puerto Rico

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