Here are the results of Pop Culture Baby Name Game 2015!
Quick disclaimer: Some of these names were already on the rise. Others were likely influenced by multiple pop culture events/people (not just the one listed). So I leave it up to you to judge the degree/nature of pop culture influence for yourself.
Adaline, +737 [ranked 11th on the list of raw-number increases for girl names]
- Up from 164 baby girls in 2014 to 901 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the movie The Age of Adaline (2015).
Abel, +659 [ranked 12th on the list of raw-number increases for boy names]
- Up from 2,557 baby boys in 2014 to 3,216 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: singer Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (stage name The Weeknd).
Finn, +301 [ranked 47th on the list of raw-number increases for boy names]
- Up from 1,580 baby boys in 2014 to 1,881 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).
Taya, +180
- Up from 93 baby girls in 2014 to 273 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the movie American Sniper (2014).
Lucille, +142
- Up from 970 baby girls in 2014 to 1,112 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the death of B. B. King (whose guitars were all called “Lucille”).
Margot, +126
- Up from 377 baby girls in 2014 to 503 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: actress Margot Robbie.
Atticus, +106
- Up from 852 baby boys in 2014 to 958 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the book Go Set a Watchman (2015).
Canaan, +104
- Up from 179 baby girls in 2014 to 283 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the news of Oprah Winfrey’s son, Canaan.
Hakeem, +87
- Up from 72 baby boys in 2014 to 159 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the TV show Empire (2015-).
Annalise, +78
- Up from 699 baby boys in 2014 to 777 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the TV show How to Get Away with Murder (2014-).
Lola, +57
- Up from 1,386 baby girls in 2014 to 1,443 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the TV show Empire (2015-).
Arlo, +54
- Up from 518 baby boys in 2014 to 572 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the movie The Good Dinosaur (2015).
Carter, +53
- Up from 10,674 baby boys in 2014 to 10,727 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: unsure (suggested in the comments).
Carli, +36
- Up from 110 baby girls in 2014 to 146 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: soccer player Carli Lloyd.
Margo, +36
- Up from 152 baby girls in 2014 to 188 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the movie Paper Towns (2015). Or, of course, Margot Robbie.
Bjorn, +35
- Up from 63 baby boys in 2014 to 98 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the TV show Vikings.
Roland, +32
- Up from 437 baby boys in 2014 to 469 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the movie By The Sea (2015).
Taraji, +30
- Up from 200 baby girls in 2014 to 230 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the TV show Empire (2015-).
Adonis, +29
- Up from 327 baby boys in 2014 to 356 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the movie Creed (2015).
Sullivan (as a boy name), +29
- Up from 631 baby boys in 2014 to 660 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: actor Sullivan Stapleton.
Joy, +28
- Up from 692 baby girls in 2014 to 720 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the movie Inside Out (2015).
Kylo, +27
- Up from 8 baby boys in 2014 to 35 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).
Alex (as a girl name), +25
- Up from 160 baby girls in 2014 to 185 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: soccer player Alex Morgan.
Rebel, +25 (as a girl name), -3 (as a boy name)
- Up from 58 baby girls in 2014 to 83 in 2015.
- Down from 48 baby boys in 2014 to 45 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the Confederate flag debate.
- Update, 5/12/16: The state-by-state data was just released. Of the 83 baby girls named Rebel, 12 were born in Texas, 9 in California, 8 in Arkansas and 6 in Oklahoma. Of the 45 boys, 7 were born in Texas and 5 in Tennessee.
Meghan, +24
- Up from 214 baby girls in 2014 to 238 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: soccer player Meghan Klingenberg.
Lucious, +18
- Up from 19 baby boys in 2014 to 37 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the TV show Empire (2015-).
Christie, +15
- Up from 31 baby girls in 2014 to 46 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: soccer player Christie Rampone.
Tobin (as a girl name), re-entered with 14
- After an absence, returned to the list with 14 baby girls.
- Pop culture influence: soccer player Tobin Heath.
Alessia, +13
- Up from 200 baby girls in 2014 to 213 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: singer Alessia Cara.
Lyon, +13
- Up from 29 baby boys in 2014 to 42 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the TV show Empire (2015-).
Kelsea, +12
- Up from 35 baby girls in 2014 to 47 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: country singer Kelsea Ballerini.
Gigi, +11
- Up from 27 baby girls in 2014 to 38 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: model Gigi Hadid.
Ragnar, +11
- Up from 19 baby boys in 2014 to 30 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the TV show Vikings.
Rollo, re-entered with 10
- After an absence, returned to the list with 10 baby boys.
- Pop culture influence: the TV show Vikings.
Max (as a girl name), +9
- Up from 14 baby girls in 2014 to 23 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: Maxima “Max” Chan Zuckerberg, daughter of Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan.
Poe, re-entered with 9
- After an absence, returned to the list with 9 baby boys.
- Pop culture influence: the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).
Denali, +8 (as a boy name) and +7 (as a girl name)
- Up from 20 baby boys in 2014 to 28 in 2015.
- Up from 55 baby girls in 2014 to 62 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the renaming of Denali.
Bindi, re-entered with 8
- After an absence, returned to the list with 8 baby girls.
- Pop culture influence: Dancing with the Stars contestant Bindi Irwin.
Eilis, re-entered with 6
- After an absence, returned to the list with 6 baby girls.
- Pop culture influence: the movie Brooklyn (2015).
Trai, re-entered with 6
- After an absence, returned to the list with 6 baby boys.
- Pop culture influence: the TV show Empire (2015-).
Becky, +5
- Up from 53 baby girls in 2014 to 58 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: soccer player Becky Sauerbrunn.
Bernie, +5
- Up from 6 baby boys in 2014 to 11 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Saint, +5
- Up from 32 baby boys in 2014 to 37 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: Saint West, son of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
Serra, +5
- Up from 12 baby girls in 2014 to 17 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: the canonization of Junipero Serra.
Taron, +4
- Up from 31 baby boys in 2014 to 35 in 2015.
- Pop culture influence: actor Taron Egerton.
Names that went down:
- Rooney (as a girl name), -2
- Quentin, -4
- Hope, -5
- Viola, -6
- Mars, -7
- Jedi, -8
- Hamilton, -9
- Misty, -10
- Creed, -11
- Kelley, -11
- Selma, -20
- Rami, -23
- Walker, -37
- Ali, -49
- Jai (as a boy name), -53
- Dixie, -58
- Julie, -86
- Abby, -120
- Vanessa, -198
- Megan, -201
- Morgan, -328
- Lauren, -409
Names not on the SSA’s list in 2015:
- Aslaug
- Bryshere
- Cookie
- Dameron
- DuVernay
- Empire
- Furiosa
- Halsey
- Jeralean
- Junipero
- Jussie
- Lagertha
- Rey (as a girl name)
- Sonoya
- Trump
Did any of these surprise you?
P.S. Some of the names from the 2014 game that have started/continued to do well: Hazel, Amal, Tauriel, and Wyatt (as a girl name). Elsa and Anna, on the other hand, both saw drops in usage.
