Late last year, SB Nation (the SB stands for “Sports Blogs”) ran an article on NBA-inspired baby names. I won’t summarize the whole thing here, but I will repost their graphic:
And, in case it isn’t obvious..
- Shaquille refers to Shaquille O’Neal
- Kobe refers to Kobe Bryant
- Kanye refers to Kanye West (he’s not in the NBA, but he did name his kid North West)
- Carmelo refers to Carmelo Anthony
- “The name saw a huge bump in popularity in 2011, which happens to be when Melo was traded to the Knicks. I do not think that’s a coincidence.” It’s not: the state that saw the biggest increase in the number of babies named Carmelo from 2010 to 2011 was New York, with a jump of 42 babies. Next-highest were CT and CA, both with just 15.
- Amare refers to Amar’e Stoudemire
- Kyrie refers to Kyrie Irving
Click below if you want to see more (including a long discussion of the name Jordan).