Here are the results of the 2012 pop culture baby name game!
Below are all the names we came up with and how they fared on the charts last year.
First up, the names that made the biggest gains. (Some of these were on their way up anyway, so I’ll leave it to you guys to interpret just how much each one was/was not helped along by pop culture events.)
Liam, +3286
- 2012: 16687 baby boys named Liam
- 2011: 13401 baby boys named Liam
Lincoln, +726
- 2012: 2882 baby boys named Lincoln
- 2011: 2156 baby boys named Lincoln
Dominic, +725
- 2012: 6140 baby boys named Dominic
- 2011: 5415 baby boys named Dominic
Penelope, +647
- 2012: 2510 baby girls named Penelope
- 2011: 1863 baby girls named Penelope
Ivy, +469
- 2012: 1677 baby girls named Ivy
- 2011: 1208 baby girls named Ivy
Arya, +367
- 2012: 754 baby girls named Arya
- 2011: 387 baby girls named Arya
Luna, +262
- 2012: 1404 baby girls named Luna
- 2011: 1142 baby girls named Luna
Louis, +132
- 2012: 1049 baby boys named Louis
- 2011: 917 baby boys named Louis
Trayvon, +123
- 2012: 178 baby boys named Trayvon
- 2011: 55 baby boys named Trayvon
Adele, +99
- 2012: 559 baby girls named Adele
- 2011: 460 baby girls named Adele
Olive, +87
- 2012: 847 baby girls named Olive
- 2011: 760 baby girls named Olive
Zayn, +83
- 2012: 131 baby boys named Zayn
- 2011: 48 baby boys named Zayn
Selena, +64
- 2012: 1043 baby girls named Selena
- 2011: 979 baby girls named Selena
Anastasia, +59
- 2012: 918 baby girls named Anastasia
- 2011: 859 baby girls named Anastasia
Grey, +59
- 2012: 184 baby boys named Grey
- 2011: 125 baby boys named Grey
Toby, +32 / +59
- 2012: 93 baby girls and 349 baby boys named Toby
- 2011: 61 baby girls and 290 baby boys named Toby
Melissa +57
- 2012: 1761 baby girls named Melissa
- 2011: 1704 baby girls named Melissa
Lorenzo,+54
- 2012: 1081 baby boys named Lorenzo
- 2011: 1027 baby boys named Lorenzo
Jubilee, +52
- 2012: 155 baby girls named Jubilee
- 2011: 103 baby girls named Jubilee
London, +22 / +32
- 2012: 3179 baby girls and 482 baby boys named London
- 2011: 3157 baby girls and 450 baby boys named London
Viola, +28
- 2012: 162 baby girls named Viola
- 2011: 134 baby girls named Viola
Renesmee, +26
- 2012: 59 baby girls named Renesmee
- 2011: 33 baby girls named Renesmee
Lovely, +26
- 2012: 82 baby girls named Lovely
- 2011: 56 baby girls named Lovely
Sarina, +26
- 2012: 194 baby girls named Sarina
- 2011: 168 baby girls named Sarina
McKayla, +25
- 2012: 399 baby girls named McKayla
- 2011: 374 baby girls named McKayla
Berenice, +20
- 2012: 129 baby girls named Berenice
- 2011: 109 baby girls named Berenice
Rue, +19
- 2012: 32 baby girls named Rue
- 2011: 13 baby girls named Rue
Selina, +18
- 2012: 242 baby girls named Selina
- 2011: 224 baby girls named Selina
Kateri, +16
- 2012: 58 baby girls named Kateri
- 2011: 42 baby girls named kateri
Merida, +15 at least
- 2012: 19 baby girls named Merida [re-entered list]
- 2011: ? baby girls named Merida
Pepper, +15
- 2012: 132 baby girls named Pepper
- 2011: 117 baby girls named Pepper
Rooney (for girls), +15
- 2012: 21 baby girls named Rooney
- 2011: 6 baby girls named Rooney
Hugo, +13
- 2012: 630 baby boys named Hugo
- 2011: 617 baby boys named Hugo
Primrose, +12 at least
- 2012: 16 baby girls named Primrose [re-entered list]
- 2011: ? baby girls named Primrose
Lisbeth, +11
- 2012: 82 baby girls named Lisbeth
- 2011: 71 baby girls named Lisbeth
Blue, +3 / +9
- 2012: 10 baby girls and 20 baby boys named Blue
- 2011: 7 baby girls and 11 baby boys named Blue
Romney, +9
- 2012: 16 baby boys named Romney
- 2011: 5 baby boys named Romney
Cassadee, +8
- 2012: 13 baby girls named Cassadee
- 2011: 5 baby girls named Cassadee
Katniss, +8 at least
- 2012: 12 baby girls named Katniss [debut]
- 2011: ? baby girls named Katniss
Niall, +8
- 2012: 42 baby boys named Niall
- 2011: 34 baby boys named Niall
Octavia, +7
- 2012: 79 baby girls named Octavia
- 2011: 72 baby girls named Octavia
Arrietty, +6 at least
- 2012: 10 baby girls named Arrietty [debut]
- 2011: ? baby girls named Arrietty
Loki, +6
- 2012: 77 baby boys named Loki
- 2011: 71 baby boys named Loki
Names that went up by 5 or fewer:
- Beretta
- Harry
- Hawk (though Hawkeye debuted)
- Joss (for boys)
- Mavis
- Maxwell (for girls)
- Mitt
- Tennessee
Names that went down:
- Avila
- Carly
- Destinee
- Django
- Elizabeth
- Felix
- Gabrielle
- Kindle
- Missy
- Ryan
- Sparkle
- Thor
- Tony
- Whitney
Names still not on the SSA’s list:
- Altaluna
- Azealia
- Carlyrae
- Dev (for girls)
- Essined
- Fury
- Hildegard
- Hulk
- Lidislay
- Quvenzhane
- Shemekia
- Stratos
- Tika
- Vanellope
- Whedon
- Yolo
Did any of these surprise you?
P.S. Thanks so much to everyone who played!