How popular is the baby name Dovahkiin in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Dovahkiin.

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Popularity of the baby name Dovahkiin


Posts that mention the name Dovahkiin

The top girl-name debuts of 2012

lotus bud

Katniss and Daenerys have arrived, you guys! Time to start the party.

The debut name party, that is.

Here are the girl names that debuted the highest on the SSA’s 2012 baby name list:

  1. Kimbella, 52 baby girls
  2. Catalaya, 51
  3. Cattaleya, 45
  4. Daleyza, 41
  5. Aaradhya, 38
  6. Catalia, 34
  7. Katalaya, 32
  8. Katalia, 26
  9. Kattleya, 26
  10. Aayat, 23
  11. Karliah, 23
  12. Daenerys, 21
  13. Catalea, 20
  14. Iviona, 19
  15. Itzae, 18
  16. Kataleah, 17
  17. Kattaleya, 17
  18. Katalea, 16
  19. Nirvi, 15
  20. Brely, 14
  21. Merliah, 14
  22. Aamilah, 13
  23. Anabrenda, 13
  24. Carliana, 13
  25. Kinsler, 13
  26. Lynnley, 13
  27. Abishai, 12
  28. Adylee, 12
  29. Ahri, 12
  30. Brenlynn, 12
  31. Drayah, 12
  32. Jeiza, 12
  33. Katalayah, 12
  34. Kathaleya, 12
  35. Katniss, 12
  36. Sebella, 12
  37. Analeyah, 11
  38. Aubreelynn, 11
  39. Cataleyah, 11
  40. Cateleya, 11
  41. Ireoluwa, 11
  42. Jonier, 11
  43. Nahyla, 11
  44. Noomi, 11
  45. Payzlie, 11
  46. Renesmae, 11
  47. Yandy, 11

And a selection from the 10-babies-and-under group: Scarlettrose, Eevee, Venba, Eponine, Swayzi, Anemone, Aoibheann, Hunnie, Kambreigh, Mlak, Paislyn, Paislynn, Paizly, Parizoda, Adn, Alanoud, Annabellelee, Ayoola, Bellaluna, Callalily, Cataliyah, Catilaya, Catileya, Cymphonique, Eilonwy, Ellyot, Fiore, Goodness, Hannabella, Heartlynn, Inchara, Kymbella, Myjoy, Nymeria, Pfeiffer, Renezmae, Sorella, Timberlynn.

Where do the names above come from?

Here are some likely explanations:

  • Aaradhya – from the daughter of Indian actress Aishwarya Rai. The baby was born in late 2011, but not named until early 2012.
  • Catalaya, Cattaleya, Catalia, Katalaya, Katalia, etc. – variants of Cataleya, which debuted last year. (And which now happens to be skyrocketing in popularity.) Cataleya was a character in the 2011 movie Columbiana.
  • Daenerys – from “Game of Thrones” character Daenerys Targaryen. (Last year’s fifth-highest debut was her title, Khaleesi.)
  • Eponine – from Les Miserables character Eponine Thenardier.
  • Karliah – from a character in the video game Skyrim. (Another Skyrim name we’ve seen used as a baby name is Dovahkiin.)
  • Katniss – from Hunger Games character Katniss Everdeen.
  • Kimbella, Kymbella – from reality show “Love & Hip Hop” cast member Kimberly “Kimbella” Vanderhee.
  • Merliah – from Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2 (2012) character Merliah Summers.
  • Noomi – from Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who was in the 2011 movies The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
  • Pfeiffer – from Michelle Pfeiffer…?
  • Renesmae, Renezmae – variants of Renesmee, which debuted in 2009. Renesmee is a character in the Twilight series.
  • Sebella – from the daughter of Puerto Rican actress Roselyn Sanchez. The baby was born in early 2012.
  • Yandy – from reality show “Love & Hip Hop” cast member Yandy Smith.

Can you come up with explanations for any of the others?

P.S. Here’s last year’s debut list.

Source: SSA

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

For-profit baby names

California mom-to-be Natasha Hill — the woman who was supposed to be getting $5,000 for allowing strangers to name her unborn baby via the site Belly Ballot — isn’t really pregnant. She isn’t even really named “Natasha Hill.”

Her name is Natasha Lloyd, and she’s an actress who was hired by the website’s founder to help drum up publicity.

Yep — the whole thing was a hoax. The folks at Today.com were the ones to figure it out:

When TODAY Moms first reported on the contest, some readers were incredulous; they couldn’t believe a real mom would do such a thing. Now it appears they were right.

Except…they weren’t. Several “real moms” (and dads) have indeed done such a thing. Here are all the for-profit baby names (and attempts) I know of:

*I never blogged about these three, so here are the details:

  • In 2001, Jason Black and Frances Schroeder of New York tried to auction off the name of the their third child (first son) via Yahoo and eBay. They were aiming for a corporate sponsor, so the bidding started at $500,000. No one bid. They ended up naming the baby Zane Black.
  • In 2002, Bob and Tracy Armstrong from Florida tried to auction off the name of their baby (gender unknown) via eBay. After eBay pulled the auction for the third time, they decided not to try again.
  • In 2002, Heather and Steve Johnston of Washington state tried to auction off the name of their baby boy via eBay. The bidding started at $250,000. I found no follow-up stories, so I imagine the auction was either pulled or unsuccessful.

Video games on one end, $15,000 on the other…such wildly different values placed on baby names. Kinda fascinating, isn’t it?

Sources: $5,000 online baby-name contest revealed as hoax, Mom crowdsources baby name for $5,000

Image: Adapted from $20 Federal Reserve Bank Note (1929) (public domain)

[Latest update: March 2022]

10 Technology-inspired baby names like “Like”

Facebook "Like"

A few months ago, PCWorld published a list of 10 tech-inspired baby names better than Like.

I thought I’d compile a similar list, but go in the opposite direction. So below are ten real-life, headline-grabbing, tech-inspired names just like Like.

Starting, of course, with Like:

Like

An Israeli baby girl was named Like after the Facebook “Like Button” in 2011. (Go like baby Like, if you like!)

Facebook

A Egyptian baby girl was named Facebook after the social networking site Facebook in 2011.

Google

A Swedish baby boy was named Google after the search engine Google in 2005.

[I’ve never blogged about this one before, surprisingly. Oliver Google Kai was born on September 12, 2005, in Kalmar, Sweden, to Dr. Walid Elias Kai (who is Lebanese) and his wife Carol (who is Swedish). Google’s response: “We wish him long life and good health, and hope his schoolmates aren’t too hard on him.”]

@

A Chinese baby boy was possibly named @ after the “at” symbol found in e-mail addresses in 2007. (The name may or may not have been approved by the Chinese government.)

Vista

A Canadian baby girl was named Vista after the Windows Vista operating system in 2007.

2.0

An American baby boy was named Jon Blake Cusack 2.0 — 2.0 in place of a more traditional suffix, like II or Jr. — in 2004.

Annanova

A Dutch baby girl was named Annanova after virtual newscaster Ananova in 2000.

Iuma

A handful of babies from various countries were named Iuma as part of the Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA) baby naming contest in 2000.

Linux

The name Linux debuted in the U.S. baby name data in the early 2010s.

Dovahkiin

An American baby boy was named Dovahkiin after a video game character just a few days ago. (Other video game baby names include Zelda and Rinoa)

For less-crazy tech-inspired names, try PCWorld’s list, or try my namestorms for internet lovers and/or computer lovers.

Update, 1/2014: Here’s another tech-related name — an American baby girl has been named Tali’Zorah after a video game character.

Parents name baby Dovahkiin, get free video games

The character Dovahkiin from the video game "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" (2011).
Dovahkiin from “Skyrim

Back in February, video game company Bethesda Softworks announced that it would give a prize to the parents of any 11/11/11 baby named Dovahkiin after Laat Dovahkiin (a.k.a. Last Dragonborn) — the protagonist (and player’s character) in their latest game, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

I didn’t blog about the offer, but I did mention it in a comment on the 11/11/11 post.

So what happened?

Well, one couple took them up on it.

Megan and Eric Kellermeyer (of the webcomic site Shards) welcomed a baby boy on 11/11/11 and named him Dovahkiin Tom Kellermeyer. Megan discusses the naming decision here.

Megan and Eric now get free Bethesda video games for life. (Hopefully Bethesda will last longer than IUMA did.)

Thoughts?

Source: Dragonborn!, via Couple Completes Real Life Skyrim Quest, Names Baby Dovahkiin, Gets Free Bethesda Games For Life