Are you expecting a baby in 2017? Have you decided on a name yet? If not, we may be able to help you one way or another.
We’ve carried out some research and found the most surprising baby name trends that parents have been naming their offspring over the last few years. You may want to jump on board the trends or completely avoid them, but we are sure they will totally surprise you.
So what are the most surprising baby name trends?
Pokémon
Yes, you read that right! You may remember the craze around Pokémon Go, well, according to BuzzFeed it looks like it sparked off a new baby name trend. Babycenter, a pregnancy and parenting website that tracks baby name trends, noticed a spike in popularity for Pokémon Go related names. The name Eevee climbed 1,377 spots on the list of popular girls’ names in 2015 to 2016 alone and Onyx climbed 2,184 spots on the girls’ list.
Babycenter’s editor in chief, Linda Murray, told BuzzFeed that she isn’t surprised people are finding inspiration in Pokémon.
“We see babies named after TV show characters, celebrities, and even Instagram filters. Millennials are particularly attracted to technology and ’90s nostalgia, which is one of the reasons we think Pokémon Go had an impact on baby naming trends among pregnant women.”
Power names
Names symbolising power have become popular over recent years. According to Nameberry, the expert baby name resource, Royal, Saint, Augustus and Kylo were the four most popular power names. Could this mean that people will be looking to the top of the power and spiritual food chains for baby names?
Apparently so! Nameberry found that in 2015, there were also 20 boys named Lord and 27 called Saviour. The most popular name of all the power names was Messiah; with more than 1,500 baby boys to be given the name. There were also 40 girls who were named Goddess.
Animal
Names related to the animal kingdom have become a popular baby name trend. Celebrity mums and dads like Alicia Silverstone, Kate Winslet and Jamie Oliver have embraced the animal-inspired naming trend, and most recently Cheryl and Liam Payne named their child Bear. Other animal names that have become more popular over recent years include Fox, Wolf, Lynx, Tiger, Falcon, Hawk and Lionel – predominantly for boys.
Literary names
Names from famous novels have risen in popularity including Matilda, Ramona, Fern, Alice and Holden. This is quite surprising, considering that almost 4 million adults in the UK never read books for pleasure. Authors names like Austen, Bronte, Poe, Wild, Angelou, Dashiell, Willa, Louisa and Zadie have also said to been predicted to appear on birth certificates, says Nameberry.
Grandparent
One of the biggest trends for boys is old-fashioned, great grandparent inspired names like Gerald, Norman, Barney or Harvey.
Names that used to be considered old-fashioned are now very common (like Henry and Vincent), so parents are looking deeper into family trees to find a more unique name for their baby.
What is in store for baby name trends in 2017?
Nameberry have said that in 2017 they expect a broadening of what can be considered a baby name: “There will be more word names and place names and unexpected hero names and every category will be stretched to its extreme.”
We hope we’ve helped you with your search on baby names. You can find more inspiration at Nameberry.com
