What Are The Top Baby Names of the Future?

A lot of the names on here are already popular, so I can see them gaining prominence by 2020…except, Maverick? Walter? I didn’t see that one coming.
The next decade will hopefully bring a lot more unusual names (sans the so-called creative spellings) that will become 2009/2010′s Oscars, Rubys, Cashes and Evelyns. I can’t wait to see what the years ahead will deliver
Great post, guys!

Ahh! Some of my favorite girls names (Matilda, Millie, Evelyn, and Ada) are up there! And seeing as I won’t be having children for another 10 years or so, this poses a problem. Though I was aware most of my faves were on the rise, I was hoping they wouldn’t rise quite so quickly.

For boys: I think Everett will return, as will Lloyd. What about Edward and Jasper, will those stars already have faded? Albert anyone? Or is that too 2030?

For girls: More variations on Ava and Eva, such as as Avalon, Eva-Rose. Taking advantage of the formal, romantic wave: Alessandra, Theodosia, Seraphina.

I love many of the girl names, and un face we’ve seriously considered Evelyn and mentioned Matilda once or twice (although we prefer Viola over Violet.) Of the boy names? Most of them aren’t my taste, except Ethan, which I have always liked.

I wonder if some of the other old-lady names will return.. with Ella, Eleanor seems poised. I like some of Stella’s suggestions, too.. I wonder if names like Dorothea will start coming back (I LOVE that one.)

I love Maverick, but the horror of someone calling my child Rick was just too great (I have aweful connotations with that name).

Aww, SarahinJune! Rick makes me think of Bogie in ‘Casablanca’!

Matilda & Mathilda are officially off my list now. Violet’s always been middle material for me, as is Scarlett (one ‘t’ is not for me). I’m very happy to not see Josephine up there !

Of the boys, Arthur, Oscar, Felix (I can’t decide which of those twoI love best) & Milo appeal. I already have a Leo, so I’m always looking to expand my boy o-enders!

Do you think it’s a bad idea to use these names now? I suppose they would still be ahead of the curve, but will a 15 year old Violet or Scarlett hate that a bunch of 5-year-olds have her name? Or maybe she’d hate it more 20 years later in the workplace. Hmm, what a dilemma, I love many of those girls’ names names!

From my expierence of people my age (who would be having babies then), they tend to like the more common or modern names actually.

But I can still see names like Emily, Ava, Olivia and such still being popular.

But when I mention Evelyn (which I think is a beautiful name) they’re like ew old lady name.

I actually know a baby Walter. It’s a pretty cool name.

Now I’d love to know what the cool but not quite so popular names might be in 2020.

Maverick & Violet are two of my very favourite names! Hope they don’t get too popular. ha walter just reminds me of dennis th emenace

Walter is on our list, but we always reject it due to the lack of nn possibilities – I’d be interested to see if it does become that popular, because I think other parents would be worried about nicknames, too. I adore Arthur nn Art, Matilda, Violet and Lily, as well

Forgot to mention how glad I am not to see a -son name for girls on there, too (Madison, Addison, Emerson, Grayson etc.) – I hope you’re right!

Good predictions! I’ve noticed a lot more Ethans and Aidens, both really good names. I have to say I don’t really care for Harper or Evelyn though. I love Grace and Ava.

Though I must say I don’t see Violet trumping Scarlett. I love both but am guessing people might chose Scarlett over Violet. My guess.

I feel like it will probably not take quite another decade for these lists to come to fruition. But, I agree that these are the emerging favorites. And I LOVE that Walter and Arthur are on the list. My grandfather’s name is Walter, and I am planning on using it in some way to honor him. And Arthur is my FAVORITE boys’ name. It is the name that I just assume my future son will have, and everyone knows it (and many made fun of me!). Now I can show them this list and laugh!

I know a couple of baby Walters already. Both go by Walt. I thought that they were unusual but perhaps not!

I saw this… last week? I think, posted somewhere.

To be honest, I think a lot of this will be dated by 2020. Ava & Lily, especially, I think, will be falling.

Also, I really really really want to know where this mysterious love of Flannery is coming from. Freakonomics said it would be on the top 10 for 2015 also, but… where is that idea coming from? I know maybe two people who really like it, and it’s not on the charts at all. Enlighten me, please, where are the non-namenerds going to pick that one up?

The boys list just looks strange. What, we’re going to abandon the classic names that have been around forever for Cash and Maverick? I doubt it. Alexander, William, etc, will still be hanging out up there. And I think Ethan and Aiden will be on the way down. I’m already sick of Aiden and it’s rhymes, surely in 10 years, everyone else will be too.

And, a sad bottom line: I don’t think the US will ever have taste as nice as this, especially for the girl’s list.

Ethan is already close to the top name in several Midwestern states. I can’t see Maverick becoming all that popular. It seems like a name that has already had its five minutes of fame. I’ve been seeing it used occasionally for years and now it shows up on entrants in high school rodeo contests. Milo also doesn’t strike me as one that will ever be all that popular. It’s trendy with Hollywood types. Other people prefer Miles. A lot of the girls names are already very popular, so if they hang around for a long time, it’s possible they’ll still be in the top 10, but I think it’s equally likely some of them will drop back.

By nameberry terms, this is mostly a pretty conservative list. But if you look at names that actually achieved the Top 10, most of them build over a long time and then hang in there. And some choices Harper, Milo, Zane, Walter, are far longer shots than others.

I like Susan’s question on which names we’d predict to be rising to the top from 2020, looking forward to 2030. What do YOU think???

The taste of the Average American can’t be that bad, surely, Veris? (and where does that monicker come from – Veris, I mean).

It seems to me that many, if not most of the names on these lists are already really popular in the UK – except for Cash and Harper and a couple of others!

Therefore, my prediction is that the Top Twenty in the US in 2020 will not be a million miles away from the Top Twenty in the UK NOW!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Ailsa
x

Veris is the first bit of Verisimilitude. Just a word I like.
;P Or it’s Eris with a V. Whatever.

I’m sure the taste of the average American isn’t that bad, but when we combine all the average Americans, there’s going to be something ugly in the top 10. Especially if this is taking into account the current trends– the “Average American” seems to like making their daughter a son. Harper and Flannery are surnames, but seem pretty unisex to me. Harper sounds a lot like Heather and Hunter, Flannery like Valerie or Jeffrey.
Is the prediction that girls will finally be girls again, in 10 years, and names like Madison, Addison, Alexis, will finally go away?

Is anyone in the UK and think that Jane will be a hip name by the time 2020 rolls around? I’ve loved for so long and it is especially meaningful to me so, even if it did gain in usage I would PROBABYLY still use it. But that depends. I normally steer clear of the top 100. I was working under the assumption Jane would still be somewhat dated in 2020- not overly so, but enough to put parents off using it. I’m beginning to think I might be wrong. Can anyone be of help? : )

Sorry to be a nuisance, but just to expand on my previous comment and give some context, there were 31 English and Welsh Janes born last year. That puts it in the same catagory as Cherry, Manon and Karen, which I don’t think will rise, but it’s also with Ottilie, Nora and Leticia, which I think could make progress.

(Sorry for the appalling spelling/grammar… one of those days where proof reading is just TOO MUCH EFFORT)

Cash is one of a bunch of similar sounding names that are being used, but I don’t think it’s ever going to be so popular that the “average American” will make it a top 10 name. I’ve seen Cashton a few times as a sort of mash of Cash and Ashton. I’d guess that a lot of parents use it as an homage to Johnny Cash. I’ve also seen Nashten a few times so that sound is around for boys. I know one child named Harper, with sisters named Haley and Hanna and a brother named Charlie. Can’t see that one ever hitting the top 10 either. It’s one of dozens of surname names that are in use for girls. That could change if there’s a TV character named Harper who’s popular. As for Flannery, I really, really doubt it. Most of the people I know would look at it and say it looks like “flannel.”

As for 2040, who knows? It’s probably a safe bet to look at whatever names are between 100 and 200 this year and guess that some of those might move up. I think some of the names that were popular between 1920-1940 will start to be more popular with upperclass folk — Estelle, Lucille, Loretta, Marion, etc. Sarah Jessica Parker’s taste is probably in vogue. Ruby fits in with that too. TV characters are probably going to still be a big influence and it’s hard to predict who will hit it big.

I love the name Evelyn, but would never use it for my own child because the sound and rhythm are nearly identical to my own name. I am surprised that Evelyn is often seen as an offshoot of the “v” sound names (Ava, Eva, etc.), rather than an alternate for the more-popular Emily. To my ear, Evelyn is MUCH closer in sound and style than Amelia is, anyway.

LyndsayJenness, I’ve got one of those names (Emma) that’s being used a lot on wee ones right now. I’m really glad of it as my name seems more current and youthful ffor it. I often run into people who will say ‘My three year old daughter’s called Emma too!’ and I think that’s a lovely association to have

To the name “nerds” questioning the origin of Flannery: It’s a literary nod, just like Harper. Flannery O’Connor and Harper Lee are both 20th century Southern-American writers with offbeat names. My guess is that the babynamers who started the trend on these two were aware of that. Flannery is probably an offshoot of Harper, though the names themselves are unrelated. If you’re a literary minded parent-to-be, you want an offbeat name, and Harper’s getting to big, then Flannery’s your next logical choice. The other good old lady writer names – Eudora (Welty), Louisa (May Alcott), etc – are too close to the granny trend.

I seriously doubt (and hope) that Violet will never be #5, especially in front of much more popular names like Lily. I think you guys jumped the gun on this name, even though Violet maybe popular on this website and among name fans, I don’t think its as popular with the general public.

I see Charlotte isn’t up there, but it’s tremendously popular right now.

Look at the top 10 baby girl names of 2008 (as per SSA)
Emma, Isabella, Emily, Madison, Ava, Olivia, Sophia, Abigail, Elizabeth, Chloe.
Look at the top 10 baby girl names of 1999 (as per SSA):
Emily, Hannah, Samantha, Ashley, Sarah, Alexis, Taylor, Jessica, Madison, Elizabeth.
Top 10 baby girl names of 1989
Jessica, Ashley, Brittany, Amanda, Sarah, Samantha, Jennifer, Stephanie, Lauren, Elizabeth

The concept of this list including Harper, Violet, Amelia, Evelyn etc in 10 years seems a little out there. American moms drop the name Elizabeth??? It’s been in the top 20 names for 150 years. The best we could hope for would be that each of the popular names would have lower #s because parents would be diversifying their choices. To me, this list is a better reflection of examples of top 50 names in 2013- 2015 than Top 10 in 2020.

When I think of names of the 80s, I think Jessica, Stephanie, Sarah, Amanda, Justin, Chris…
When I think of names of the 90s, I think Bailey, Taylor, Mackenzie, Paige, Jackson, Tyler…
When I think of names of the 00s, I think Ava, Sophie, Isabella, Lily, Landon, Ethan, Aiden…
I can’t imagine that names of the 2020 will be unchanged from the previous 10-20 years.

Of course, no one can 100% accurately predict the trends, but I was hoping for some really cool, unexpected names on those lists.

My personal, gut instinct assumption is that names trends will head towards more zippy, catchy, jazzy, shorter nickname-y names like Mack, Evie, Harlow, Myles, Lucy, and Emme. I think names will be shortened and unfussy in the next ten years. I am HOPING we can get rid of the made up sounding trendy names. I’m over that. Back to the real stuff. LOL. But then again, what do I know?

I actually think so too=P I have been poking around the web for some time today, and its kinda hard to find something entertaining to read on blogs=] Maybe its because there are too much of them around =) But your site actually keeps catching my attention=) Great posts, and cool design ^__^. Ill be sure to give it more visits now

I never go for the usual names, unique is my thing But as for naming my chidren I’ve always known what I’m calling my 3 daughtersto-be, Hanna Maya/Meya Nadiine(the double i,replaced with the that I with two dots on it,don’t know what its called LOL)

Names like DEBORAH, MICHELLE, Veronica, Victoria, Elizabeth, “Beth” and of course Catherine will RETURN like crazy! PEOPLE LOVE RECYLING OLDER NAMES TOO–hence when Julia Robert’s named her baby, “HAZEL” it’s coming folks!
I love the names: DEBORAh, DELILAH, Rebecca…

I also love Biblical names for boys: Jude, Asher, Paul, Matthew, Jeshua, Moses–these names til NEVER GO AWAY!!

My Daughter’s name is Evelyn and My husbands middle name is Maddox. If i ever have another boy, i want to name him Cash Warren Daniel. with Cash Warren being his first name

I was very happy to not see Adelyn on this list i want a name that is classic and feminine and not too popular my other choice is Beverly but hubby shot it down

It’s strange that people are saying they don’t think Harper is going to be very popular. Ok, maybe not top 10 but I have heard it a LOT lately. Maybe it’s a southern thing? (I live in TN) I have a 2 year old girl and am pregnant with another girl and people have suggested it to me multiple times.

I’m originally from TN, too, and I know THREE Harper Grace’s, all born in the past three months…The girls’ list, at least, seems to be what’s popular right now.