Expectant parents everywhere, take heed: Babycenter just released the top baby names for 2015 (and we isolated the top Jewish baby names already). Most of the names on the girl and boy lists are not altogether surprising. But what is surprising are the new trends that Babycenter is spotting.
Baby names have always been inspired by celebrities and pop culture, but now Youtube, video game heroines, characters from YA novels, astrology, planets, stars, and even Instagram filters are in the mix. This is both incredibly cool and incredibly weird. I’m on board with stars and planets (I’m a poet, what do you expect?), but Instagram filters? I don’t know about that one.
Here are the top five trends that new parents are naming their bundles of joy after:
1. Instagram filters. Lux, Juno, Reyes, Ludwig, Amaro, Valencia, Willow, anyone?
2. Royal names, but we’re not talking mini-Diana’s. We’re talking Prince, Duchess, Kaiser, and even Sultan.
3. Teen novels. It seems Katniss and Hermione may be names we all hear more of in real life.
4. Star power. But not the celebrity kind, the kind Galilei spent his lifetime studying. Luna, Venus, and Jupiter are just a few examples.
5. Gender neutral names. Many new parents are rejecting gendered names for their kids, and going with neutral names like Carson, Amari, and Sawyer. Some parents are completely flipping gender roles by naming their daughters with traditional boy names, like James and Maxwell.
What do you think about these trends and name choices?
