Two momentous things happen every year on December 2. First, Britney Spears celebrates her birthday. (Happy b-day, Brit-Brit!) Second, NBN kicks off another round of the Pop Culture Baby Name Game.
Which baby names will see significant movement on the baby name charts in 2015 thanks to popular culture (television, music, movies, sports, current events, products/advertising, video games, etc.)? Comment below with your guesses. Don’t forget to mention the pop culture influence.
Here are a few to start us off:
- Adaline – the movie The Age of Adaline was released in April
- Arlo – the movie The Good Dinosaur was released in November
- Atticus – the book Go Set a Watchman was released in July
- Bernie – Bernie Sanders launched his presidential campaign in May
- Bryshere, Cookie, Empire, Hakeem, Jussie, Lola, Lucious, Lyon, Taraji, Trai – the show Empire debuted in January
- Denali – the mountain was renamed in August
- Furiosa – the movie Mad Max was released in May (suggested by Megan)
- Jeralean – supercentenarian Jeralean Talley died in June (suggested by elbowin)
- Junipero, Serra – 18th-century priest Junipero Serra was canonized in September
- Lucille – musician B. B. King died in May (suggested by elbowin)
- Margo, Quentin – the movie Paper Towns was released in July
- Misty – ballerina Misty Copeland became the ABT’s first-ever African-American female principal dancer in June
- Roland, Vanessa – the movie By the Sea was released in November
- Trump – Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign in June
I’ll post the results in mid-May, after the SSA releases the 2015 baby name data. If you don’t want to miss the results post, remember to subscribe!
Previous rounds of the Pop Culture Baby Name Game: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011: #1 & #2, 2010.
Here’s one prediction that I’ve made on my blog back in July which sort of fits into here: names from the US women’s football team. They did very well against Japan and I would think that some names below will rise as a result.
– Abby (Wambach)
– Alex (Morgan)
– Ali (Krieger)
– Becky (Sauerbrunn)
– Carli (Lloyd)
– Christie (Rampone)
– Hope (Solo)
– Julie (Johnston)
– Kelley (O’Hara)
– Lauren (Holiday)
– Meghan (Klingenberg)
– Megan (Rapinoe)
– Morgan (Brian)
– Tobin (Heath)
I predict an uptick in “Joy” (from Inside Out)
It’s probably too late in the year for this news to influence the baby name charts, but I’ll throw it in just in case:
Canaan – the premature baby boy Oprah Winfrey had/lost when she was 14. She recently (symbolically) chose a name for him: “I named him Canaan because Canaan means new land, new life.”
Carter — I expect there will be an uptick, although it’s already #14 and James is already #9 so it’s not coming out of nowhere.
Walker — Paul Walker passed in November of 2014 & Furious 7 came out in July.
Sonoya — Sonoya Mizuno Ex Machina actress.
Rami — Rami Malek “Mr Robot” actor.
DuVernay — Getting spurned by the Oscars might give film director Ava DuVernay’s name a boost.
Selma — DuVernay’s 2014 movie and the 50th Anniversary commemoration.
Dixie, Rebel, etc. — After all of the uproar about the Confederate flag, I’m predicting an uptick in “Southern Heritage” names.
Too late for 2015, but I’m nominating Creed for 2016.
Hamilton
@Nicole – What is Hamilton from?
Saint – for the latest Kimye child
Bindi – for Bindi Irwin, who recently won Dancing with the Stars
Abel — from Abel Makkonen Tesfaye aka the Weeknd.
(Recently noticed numerous baby Abels in my local birth announcements and I was curious about the upsurge.)
@Julie – That’s a good one! Wouldn’t have thought of Abel. (It’ll be tricky to judge, tho, as it’s already on the rise. Here’s the graph for Abel.)
I’ve been keeping a list, and Joy, Bindi and Abel were on them. Cool to see that we’re noticing some of the same names! Can’t believe I didn’t think of Hamilton – it’s from the Broadway musical, Nancy.
Also on my list:
– Star Wars names, obviously, especially ones that come from new characters like Finn, Rey, Poe, Dameron, Kylo.
– Max (for females) because of Mark Zuckerberg’s daughter.
– Pop music names: Alessia (Alessia Cara), Kelsea (Kelsea Ballerini) and Halsey.
– Movie names: Eilis, a character in the “Brooklyn”. Creed and Adonis, from “Creed”. Taya, from Taya Kyle, the widow of Chris Kyle of “American Sniper”.
– Up-and-coming Celebrities: Gigi (Hadid, model), Margot (Robbie, actress), Rooney (Mara, actress), Sullivan (Stapleton, actor), Jai (Courtney, actor), Taron (Egerton, actor).
And finally, a planet that had a good year: Mars.
Oh, and two more: Annalise, from tv’s “How to Get Away with Murder” and Viola, from the actress who plays her.
@Becca – Thanks for explaining Hamilton. I hadn’t even heard of the show. Sounds awesome, actually.
Another Star Wars-specific name we should keep an eye on: Jedi. (One baby born yesterday got Jedi as a middle name.)
Eilís – Just read a glowing review of the movie Brooklyn, which features a protagonist named Eilís (played by Saoirse Ronan). It was released in November.
[Edit: Oh, just noticed Becca already mentioned this one.]
Re Hamilton: Here’s an article, “How to Name Your Baby After Hamilton” analyzing almost every character name in the show. http://www.vulture.com/2016/01/how-to-name-your-baby-after-hamilton.html
I agree with the author that Theodosia should make a comeback!
Nice find! And I third the Theodosia comeback.
Making a note now for 2016: Bowie. (Here’s one already.)
Another note for 2016: Luna.
It’s already rising fast, but John Legend and Chrissy Teigen just named their baby girl Luna Simone, so perhaps in 2016 it’ll rise even faster.
(“Luna Simone” is very close to Nina Simone…subtle tribute? Hm.)
Ragnar – I’ve been hearing more and more about the show Vikings lately, which has already put Ragnar back on the charts (2013 & 2014).
Other names from the show, just in case: Rollo, Bjorn, Lagertha, Aslaug.