The top boy-name debuts of 2017

lotus bud

Asahd was the top debut name on the boys’ side of the list in 2017.

The boy names that debuted most impressively last year were…

1. Asahd, 58 baby boys
2. Kashdon, 30
3. Kassian, 22
4. Draxler / Ikeni / Noctis, 17 each (3-way tie)
5. Dakston, 13

In order for a rare baby name to make the cut and appear in the SSA’s baby name data for the first time, it has to be given to at least 5 babies (of either one gender or the other) within a given year.

The other names that debuted with ten-or-more baby boys in 2017 were Amunra, Arjunreddy, Irtaza, Ledgen, Gurbaaz, Caspen, Meliodas, Sreyan, Tewodros, and Yeziel.

Debuts lower down on the list include: Aarushreddy, Imronbek, Benjen, Kadafi, Killiam, Agambir, Almighty, Bamlak, Kuiper, Munther, Owsley, Slayer, Tolkien, Tuguldur, Vandawt, Zage, Zealous, Aoto, Bender, Bodhisattva, Cerulean, Go.

If you know what the explanations are for any of them, please leave a comment!

Here are the top boy name debuts of 2016.

[Note: I’ll be updating this post throughout the day.]

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from LotusBud0048a (public domain) by Frank “Fg2” Gualtieri

8 thoughts on “The top boy-name debuts of 2017

  1. I’ve looked into this a little bit and these are my best guesses:

    Kashdon: I found an article for a young boy who died July 2017 in Des Moines named Kashdon, but I’d probably attribute this rise to style rather than a news story. Cashton, Kashton, Cashden, Kashden, and Cashtyn all rose in 2017.

    Kassian – Cassian Andor was a character in Rogue One released December 2016. Cassian also rose. This could also be in reference to an ice hockey player for the Oilers, Zack Kassian.

    Draxler – Julian Draxler is a German footballer. I also think a lot of the appeal comes from the the built-in “Drax” — as in Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy

    Ikeni – It looks like Ikeni was a popular character on a Brazilian soap opera “Os Dez Mandamentos,” which aired for the first time in the US in 2016, ending its first season in 2017, with the second season airing in 2017.

  2. Benjen as in Benjen Stark on Game of Thrones. He is the uncle of the Stark children and had a few heroic action scenes last season.

  3. Owsley is a county in Kentucky–maybe people there are really proud of where they’re from? When the state data comes out on Thursday it’ll be clearer.

    I bet Killiam is a typo for Killian. ‘Willian’ also made the list, which makes me think there’s a lot of confusion between n’s and m’s when writing Social Security cards.

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