Today is Britney Spears’s birthday. (Happy 30th, B!) And you know what happens every year when Brit’s birthday rolls around: the Pop Culture Baby Name Game!
What’s the game all about? Well, we try to predict which pop culture-inspired baby names will appear on the SSA’s official baby name data for the very first time in 2011.
Think back to all the big pop culture events of 2011 (and late 2010). Sports, television, politics, technology, movies, music, books, video games, and so forth. What brand-new baby names do you think they inspired in 2011?
Here are some possibilities:
- Bieber
- Cersei, Daenerys, Lannister, etc.
- Gaga
- Katniss
- Kreayshawn
- Lohan
- Skrillex
- Taio
I’ll admit it, some of these are recycled from last year. :)
What names would you add to the list?
UPDATE, May 2012: Here are the results!
With the premieres of Once Upon a Time and Grimm on TV this fall, perhaps some fairy tale related names.
Pretty much all the names on Once Upon a Time are pretty normal: Henry, James, Mary, Regina, along those lines.
I think some of the new names will be of course celebrity inspired.
For boys, probably Crosby (Sidney Crosby related), surnames like Campbell and Baylor, some nouveau choices like Maxton, Rio, Kiptyn and Chevy, probably some creative spellings like Braedyn, Emory, Kamdyn, Kooper. Some older names are likely to return, Harvey and Leif come to mind, also nicknames like Zeke.
I’m betting on Florence. Only 75 babies were named Florence last year, but I could see it hitting the list. Besides that it’s hugely popular in the UK and Canada, but the group Florence and the Machine have become quite the media darlings, so the name is getting a lot of exposure.
I can see Harry or Potter, Edward/Jacob/Belle making a comeback.
I’m would hope people wouldn’t name their kids names for Game of Throne charecters, I love the novels (haven’t seen the show yet, I don’t have HBO) some of the names are strange but I do like the name Bran.
@Kennith – Potter is a good one. I’m surprised it’s never been on the list, actually. (Then again, if it couldn’t make the list at the height of Harry Potter-mania a few years ago, maybe it doesn’t stand much of a chance anymore?)
music: I think Adele will storm up the charts- it came in at around #900 last year but I expect it will go up further this year. Maybe Perry will come back into the top 1000 (music); Mars;
movie/tv: I think Gale might come up, with the Hunger Games, but that may also take another year or so.or Aibileen, Skeeter, Lannister, Cersei, Theon, Khal?
celeb baby name inspired: Flynn, Sparrow, Bryn, Monroe
cultural: Pippa, Occupy, Spring?
Occupy! That’s a good one.
What about Betty (White)? I can see that coming back in the top 1000
This one doesn’t count, as it’s already on the list, but I just learned there’s a Vampire Diaries character named Alaric (nn Rick) so that one might be on its way up soon.
Was just reading about how Hunger Games is had the 3rd-best opening weekend of all time (after The Dark Knight and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2).
So Katniss is pretty much a sure thing at this point. If not in 2011 for the books, then definitely in 2012 for the movie.
Here’s one I found buried in the comments: Jimmer, suggested by Grace.
Tebow, suggested by Evan.
Here’s another one that will debut Raylan, after the character on Justified. I had just assumed it was already in the top 1000…
and two more:
Mobley from the character Mae Mobley in “The Help.”
Eames from a character in “Inception.”