Names that Peaked in 2021

Adley made the Top 1000 at Number 735 in 2012 on the heels of sister name Hadley, only to vanish again in 2013. But now, with the popularity of Adelaide and Adeline, it has leaped upward and entered the Top 1000 once again. Adley feels in step with name trends of the moment, but will it survive the ages? Other such mashups have not.

Adley

One of many Irish and Scottish surnames starting with Mac and Mc that also feel usable as given names, McCoy has a jaunty and energetic sound. The name entered the US Top 1000 in 2020, and was given to around 220 boys in the US in a recent year, along with 6 girls. 
 
McCoy ultimately derives from the Irish MacAodh, via the alternative Anglicization MacKay. Meaning "son of Aodh", the 'OI' sound in -Coy could come from the Scottish pronunciation of the Gaelic name. A relative to the popular Aiden, Aodh means "fire", giving McCoy the potentially more poetic interpretation of "son of fire"> 
 
McCoy Tyner, the well-known jazz pianist, is one of the few to use this very cool name, while a fictional bearer is Dr. Leonard H. McCoy '"Bones" of Star Trek. 
 
With the bonus of nickname Mac, McCoy might work as a familiar but not overused choice in the US and elsewhere, though UK-based parents may want to consider that it is a brand of potato crisps.

Mccoy

Doting parents have begun to use names like Precious and Treasure, which are sweet for a baby, but might not hold up over the years. Treasure was used for nearly 300 baby girls in one recent year.

Treasure

Related to Nia and Naia, Naya was new to the US Top 1000 in 2014 and benefits from the short and simple pronunciation that many parents are seeking in fresh names. It also has obvious similarities to popular Mia and Maya.
 Naya Rivera is an actress and singer known for her role as Santana Lopez in musical sitcom Glee.

Naya

Genesis, meet Jennifer. This spelling of Genesis — the first book in the Bible — is comfortably in the Top 1000.

Jenesis

This spelling of Naomi increases the chances you'll get the nye-O-mee pronunciation and feels reminiscent of Japanese Kiyomi. The name entered the Top 1000 in 2020 and has lingered around the latter end of the charts even since, with 330 girls given the name in a recent year. By contrast, Naomi was chosen for 4644 babies: or 14 times more often.

Nyomi

Promise is one of those word names with an uplifting meaning that is making inroads as a <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' name</a>, like sisters Dream and Serenity. How promising is Promise as a first name? Our try at cleverness illustrates perhaps the biggest problem with naming your baby girl Promise: It will be difficult for people to resist making bad puns on the name. We promise (argh) you'll be tired of hearing them well before your baby Promise's first birthday.

Promise

Now that Isla Fisher has pushed her once-obscure name into the Top 150, some parents are looking for similar-sounding <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/472/scottish-names-for-girls">Scottish names for girls</a> that are further off the beaten path. This one is especially promising, with its cross-cultural appeal. Ayla, a common name in Turkey, is also worth considering.

Aila

Flynn, a charming Irish surname, is still used only quietly, despite its easygoing, casual cowboy charm, unlike Finn which is a star of this genre. Flynn was the choice of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr for their baby boy, and is also the middle name -- used as his first -- of a son of Miranda's fellow supermodel Elle Macpherson, of Gary Oldman's son Gulliver and Marley Shelton's daughter West.
 Flynn Rider (born Eugene Fitzherbert) is the dashing animated hero of the Disney film "Tangled." On TV's "Breaking Bad", Flynn was what young Walter Jr. tried to rename himself. The name was long associated with the swashbuckling Errol Flynn, inspiration of the phrase "in like Flynn." Some may connect this name to controversial former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn
 Flynn entered the U.S. Top 1000 in 2011, and is a highly popular choice in Australia and New Zealand.

Flynn

Bjorn is one of the most recognizable <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/173/scandinavian-names">Scandinavian names</a>, thanks in large part to tennis great Björn Borg, winner of five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French opens and something of a rock star figure.
 
Bjorn has been in use since the days of the Vikings and derives from the Old Norse word for "bear". In Scandinavian countries, it is also spelled Björn and Bjørn.
 
After its boost in popularity when Borg ruled the courts, there have also been other notable Bjorns in various fields in Sweden, Norway and Germany, ranging from the first king of Norway to a member of the pop group ABBA.
 
And if you do pick this name for your son, your baby Bjorn can be carried around in a Baby Bjorn.

Bjorn

Avi, the short form of many Hebrew names, is often used on its own in Israel. It entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2015.

Ezra is a biblical favorite for boys that's been making inroads into the girls' Top 1000 since 2018 and it's easy to see why. With its soft sounds and -a ending, it holds the same appeal as Noa, Sasha, Micah, and Luka do: short, sweet, and solid. 2024 saw Ezra climb 61 places up the US charts, placing it just outside the Top 700.
 
Though it was given to nearly 400 baby girls in 2024, that's still below the 10% cutoff required to make a name truly unisex. More than 8770 baby boys were named Ezra last year, meaning only 5% of Ezras born in the US were girls. 
 Lovers of Ezra for a girl might like the pretty Turkish name Esra, a variant of Arabic Isra meaning "she who travels by night". There's also Ezri, which, thanks to pop culture, is now more popular for girls.

Ezra

Yet another creative character name from Toni Morrison, Denver was a daughter of Sethe's in the novel Beloved. Today Denver is most familiar as the name of the largest city in Colorado, used almost equally for girls and boys.

Denver

Kaiser, as in roll and Wilhelm, appeared for the first time on the US Top 1000 in 2017.  It fits the two-syllable -er ending style that's all the rage, and it lends itself to the short form Kai.  But we hope this Germanic version of what is essentially a title rather than a name doesn't keep rising on the charts.

Kaiser

Less popular than the Bueller-inspired Sloane but following on its coattails, this name ranks toward the middle of the Top 1000, but we see both spellings sticking around for years to come.

Sloan

A mostly undiscovered alternative to the ultra-popular Colton; just 80 baby boys were named Coleson in 2016. It's also a surname name in its own right. 

Coleson

Bear has suddenly lumbered onto the baby name landscape. Perhaps inspired by British adventurer Bear Grylls (born Edward Michael), first celebrity chef Jamie Oliver used it as the middle name for his boy Buddy, and Alicia Silverstone called her son Bear Blu, followed by Kate Winslet's Bear Blaize.

The name Bear is part of a current trend normalizing once aggressive animal names like Wolf, Hawk, and Fox. Bear now ranks in the Top 1000 in both the US and England.

Bear

Indigo is one of the most appealing and evocative of the new generation of color names. Color names have joined flower and jewel names -- in a big way -- and Indigo, a deep blue-purple dye from plants native to India, is particularly striking for both girls and boys. Indigo is the name of a character in the Ntozake Shange novel Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, and was used for his daughter by Lou Diamond Phillips.
 Some cultural references: The Indigo Girls are a folk duo, 'Mood Indigo' is a classic Duke Ellington jazz composition, and there is a 1970's New Age theory that Indigo children possess special, sometimes supernatural abilities.

Indigo

Fast-rising boy name thanks to Indian actress Dia Mirza when she used it for her son in 2021. Avyaan is related to Lord Ganesha, the Hindu god of beginnings and good luck. Avyaan entered the US and UK Top 1000 charts in 2021 and has been on the rise in the years since.
 
There are conflicting theories on what the definitive meaning of the name is, with possibilities including: "lucky" or "beginning" in association with Lord Ganesha; "faultless" and "with no imperfections" from Sanskrit; or "indestructible" again from Sanskrit,

Avyaan

There is much disagreement about the origin, meaning, or even existence of this name. Some sources cite Jesiah as the name of several minor Biblical figures, others say it's a variation of Josiah, still others call it a modern conflation of Josiah and Jesse. Whatever it is, it's red-hot. Rising a whopping 256 places in 2023, Jesiah is among the newest additions to the US Top 1000 — an interesting phenomena being that Josiah and Jesse have now both passed their popularity peak.

Jesiah

These are the names that peaked in 2021 — those that were at their highest point ever on the official US popularity list in 2021.

For some of the names on this list, this represents a lifetime high — Olivia and Liam can't get any higher than Number 1! Others will continue their ascent and peak sometime in the future.

Names that have been at the top of the charts for a while, such as Evelyn and Cooper, are more likely to be at their true peak than names just warming up, like Salem and Wells.

Along with Evelyn and Wells, other baby names that peaked in 2021 include Athena, Elio, Jaylani, Levi, Margot, Nasir, Sienna, and Truett.

Hundreds of names reached their peak in 2021. See all the baby names that peaked in 2021 below. You can also organize by gender with our collections of 

Baby names that peaked in 2021 including origin, meaning, and popularity. (Page 19)

Names That Peaked in 2021