Here are the results of Pop Culture Baby Name Game 2018! For the pop culture context of any of these names, just click back over to the original game post.
Rises
Names that saw higher usage in 2018:
- Carson (as a boy name), +487
Still waiting on the state data to know how much of this usage happened in Pennsylvania. The state data is out! PA was indeed the state that had the most Carsons, with 454 baby boys (8.7% of the national total) getting the name. This makes Carson the 11th-most-popular boy name in the state for 2018.
- Miles (as a boy name), +343
- Zhavia, debuted at 306
- Meghan, +248
- Hayes (as a boy name), +207
- Crew, +139
- Kane, +106
- Havana, +101
- Elsie, +92
- Stormi, +85
- Violet, +75
- Cleo, +67
- Braven, +66
- True (as a girl name), +46
- Astrid, +42
- Billie, +32
- Dua, +32
- Zia, +21
- Nakia (as a girl name), +21
- Kiari (as a girl name), +20
- Granger, +18
- Yarishna, debuted at 18
- Mera, +16
- Roma, +15
- Shay (as a boy name), +15
- Araminta, re-emerged at 13
- Rami, +13
- Elanese, debuted at 12
- Halsey, +12
- Wade, +11
- Khalid, +10
- Chadwick, +9
- Shuri, re-emerged at 9
- Doria, re-emerged at 8
- Sharaya, re-emerged at 8
- Keala, +7
- Banks (as a girl name), debuted at 6
- Cardi, debuted at 6
- Chicago (as a girl name), debuted at 6
- Garrix, debuted at 6
- Karamo, re-emerged at 6
- Koe, debuted at 6
- Swae, debuted at 6
- Takeshi, re-emerged at 6
- Aegon, debuted at 5
- Zaytoven, debuted at 5
- Jojo (as a girl name), +4
- Zazie, +4
- Rani (as a girl name), +3
- Billion, +3
- Canon, +1
- Mariposa, +1
No Change
Names that saw no change in usage in 2018.
Drops
Names that saw lower usage in 2018:
- Story (as a girl name), -2
- Kiki, -3
- Storm (as a girl name), -10
- Akash, -13
- Logan (as a girl name), -29
- Dash (as a boy name), -31
- Grayson, -141 as a boy name and -14 as a girl name
Absent
Names that were absent from the SSA data in 2018:
- Did not debut: Avicii, Carvena, Chevel, Coco (as a boy name), Cullinan, Ella Mai, Kaavia, Kulture, Mahomes, Majeste, Maquia, Marsai, Nafessa, Osaka, Pineapple, Qira, Ramirez (as a girl name), Reileen, Sanni, Velar, Venom, Villanelle, Xolo, Yanny, Zaxai
- Did not re-emerge: Cress, Gio, Joji, Jumanji, T’challa
Late Bloomers
Names that were “absent” from 2017’s results, now in 2018:
Plus: Rumi finally rose, and Sircarter unexpectedly surfaced.
What are your thoughts on the results this year? Did anything surprise you?
[Disclaimer: Some of the names above were already moving in the direction indicated, and some were no doubt influenced by more than a single pop culture person/event. I leave it up to you to judge the degree/nature of pop culture influence in each case.]