We head into 2018 following a year of surprises: The rise of powerful women after the fall of the first female presidential candidate, unexpected heroes (and villains) on the world as well as the theatrical stage, a new emphasis on truth as well as strength.
For Nameberry’s 2018 baby name trends, that means it’s time to get serious. In the year ahead, we predict a stronger taste for heroic names for both daughters and sons, increased flexibility in using names to equalize the genders, and a more adventurous search for names that have deep roots but feel fresh in the modern world.
Biggest Big-Picture Trend: Strong female names
This may not have been the year the US got its first woman President, but 2017 started with the Women’s Marches, summered with Wonder Woman, and ended with the mostly-female whistle-blowers bringing down titans of entertainment, business, and politics. That propels us into 2018 with an emphasis on powerful women and strong female names, a theme that can’t help but influence parents naming daughters in the future. A handful of studies have identified the names most likely to get into top colleges, which include serious girls’ names finding new appeal with baby namers, including Eleanor, Margaret, and Ruth. Other winners are names that mean intelligence or wisdom, such as Sophia and Pallas, names that mean strength such as Matilda and Bridget, and especially names of heroines and goddesses, such as Freya, Luna, Arya, and yes, let’s even go all the way to Sojourner.
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5 Responses to “Baby Name Trends 2018”
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Kibby Says:
tfzolghadr Says:
Totally agree… no guns or (well-known) brands in general. Really that means no materialistic names… Bentley, Tiffany, Diamond, etc.
maggiemary Says:
@tfzolghadr – Tiffany was a name long before it was a luxury label, and I’m sure that applies to other brands/labels too, I know Mercedes is one such example (the car was named after the founder’s daughter). Surely such names couldn’t be banned, when they were names first?!
southern.maple Says:
I don’t believe in banning names. As @maggiemary pointed out, names like Remington and Bentley were names long before they were associated with brands. Not every parent using these names is using them because they’re gun/car/jewelry/purse/whatever enthusiasts. Where would you draw the line?
AprilRose Says:
I agree that naming a child after a brand is in poor taste and should be avoided, however many brand names stem from real names, either given names (like Mercedes or Tiffany’s) or surnames (and surnames as given names is increasingly popular). So it’s completely possible that many families could simply like a name that happens to also be a major brand (of course parents should take the association into consideration when making their decision but if it feels right, then it’s the right name)
I mean why shouldn’t parents be able to name their kids Tesla or Nova, two beautiful names with science connections, just because they’re car brands.
And to add one final point, here in Ireland there’s a really popular brand of biscuits (cookies) called Jacob’s. Should we ban Jacob then?
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The ban on Brand names should also extend to car names. Just saying…