The baby name Unicorn: Ridiculous? Inevitable? Both?
I’m not asking because I think Unicorn should become a baby name. I’m asking because I think there’s an outside chance that it could see some usage this year, thanks to the sudden trendiness of unicorns.
The word “unicorn” is being used to market all manner of colorful, sparkly products at the moment. In fact, Google searches for “unicorn” hit an all-time high last month.
The word has also acquired some positive associations over the last few years. According to Elizabeth Segran of Fast Company, “unicorn” is now being used to denote uniqueness (e.g., unicorn startup, unicorn boyfriend) and also to signify anything “happy, fun-loving, and cute.”
So if this unicorn fad lasts long enough, and if American parents are daring enough, do you think we could see a Unicorn or two in the birth announcements this year?
For the record, Unicorn has been used as a name in the U.S. before, but only a handful of times. The youngest I found was a male born in the ’90s with the middle name Unicorn.
Mythical creature names (like Phoenix, Griffin, and Dragon) — not to mention real-life creature names (like Bear, Fox, Wolf, and Wren) — are on the rise right now. So what are the odds that we’ll see some some baby Unicorns in 2017?
Source: The Unicorn Craze, Explained
I’ve been wondering the same about the name “Mermaid” since they’re also having a trendy moment.
I think Mermaid has an even better chance of catching on. I see more people named Mermaid in records databases, and a relatively high proportion of them are recent births (b. 1984, 1991, 1992 x2, 2001, 2003). Like Unicorn, tho, it’s mainly a middle name, and the usage is pretty spread out (U.S., England, Ireland, Scotland, etc.)
I’m also seeing a few people named Mermaida, which is interesting.
Wasn’t mermaid the Irish form of the name Mary? (tongue-in-check)