Every year on December 2 (happy birthday Britney Spears!) we start another round of the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game. It’s not a “game” really, but more of a group brainstorm. Between today and next May, we try to guess which baby names saw increased usage in 2014 thanks to popular culture — music, movies, television, video games, sports, politics, current events, products/advertising, and so forth.
Here are all the 2014 predictions we’ve made so far. Many of the below come from longtime commenters elbowin and Julie — thanks you guys!
- Anna
- Ansel
- Arendelle
- Augustus
- Cobain
- Dessa
- Ellar
- Elsa
- Ferguson (for Ferguson, Missouri)
- Floribeth
- Hazel
- Idina (for Idina Menzel)
- Iselle
- Kristoff
- Lacey
- Lucas (in NYC specifically)
- L’Wren
- Madiba
- Maleficent
- Mandela
- Moana
- Mo’ne
- Nelson
- Odessa
- Odeya
- Peaches
- Pharrell
- Philae
- Robin (for boys specifically)
- Rust (for the True Detective character)
- Seanix
- Shailene
- Sibel
- Ska
- Tamir (for Tamir Rice)
- Tauriel
- Vitruvius
- Wyatt (for girls specifically)
- Wyldstyle
- Zarina
Which names would you add to this list? (Please remember to add a reason, so we all know the context!)
New Predictions as they come in:
- Urban – from Diana (12/2)
- Peter – from Abby (12/2)
- Noni – from Becca (12/2)
- Kaz – from Becca (12/2)
- Murphy (for girls specifically) – from Becca (12/2)
- Scotland/Scotlyn – from Becca (12/2)
- Lupita – from Becca (12/2)
- Benedict – from Becca (12/2)
- Diem – from Becca (12/2)
- Rosamund – from Becca (12/2)
- Annalise – from Julie (12/2)
- Azalea – from Gina (12/3)
- Kaiser – from Gina (12/3)
- Aman – from me (12/4)
- Judith – from Dellitt (12/5)
- Margaret – from jaime (12/6)
- Vale – from Gwen (12/10)
- Diren – elbowin (12/18)
- Amal – from me (1/15)
- Ledisi – from me (2/12)
- Keke – 2/25
Previous rounds of the Pop Culture Baby Name Game: 2013, 2012, 2011 #1, 2011 #2, 2010.
