Babyberries: Class of 2023!
As we finish off another year, it's time for the recap of Nameberry's newest arrivals born in 2023!
Birth announcements for 93 new Babyberries – 47 girls and 46 boys – were featured on our forums and Instagram over the past year. The warmest of welcomes to all of our littlest members!
Berry parents have always put endless thought and creativity into their children's names, and the selections this year strongly reflect this. There were 108 unique girl names used by Nameberry parents in 2023, as well as 94 unique boy names.
Each year the editors at Nameberry nominate their choices of names we are predicting with rise significantly the next year. Amongst this years Babyberries were the names Pia, Blaise, Cleo, and Everest — all names we're watching for 2023 and 2024.
Nameberry trends have historically reflected and even predicted the direction of name trends in the US — Top Nameberry names such as Arlo and Atticus, Maeve and Ophelia, are all up and coming quite quickly in the US charts. This makes yearly recaps like this one all the more exciting for us name nerds, as it gives us a glimpse of what may be the next big name hits.
Top Girl Names 2023
Two girl names were used twice: Daisy and Eden. Both were used once as a first name and once as a middle name for a Babyberry.
The most popular initial for girls was D, with baby girls named Daisy, Daphne, Darcy, Delaney, Dorothy, and Dusty. This was especially notable as D is one of the most unique initials today, with only one girl name starting with D (Delilah) making the US Top 100 .
Longer names with spunky nicknames were especially stylish, including Theodora "Thea", Margaret "Maggie", Eleanor "Nell", and Philippa "Pippa". Other parents went straight to the nickname, such as Winnie, Tess, Posey, Nella, and Hallie.
Nameberry parents loved a unique nature or virtue middle name, such as Blessing, Bloom, and Bluebell, Dove and Lark.
Longtime Nameberry favorites remained popular, including Sylvie, Maeve, Eleanor, Daphne, Louisa, and Ruby. Underused vintage names also shined through, with parents picking under-the-radar choices like Roxanne, Zipporah, Augusta, Judith, and Philippa.
Many of the names picked by Nameberry parents have never been featured before in the 600+ birth announcements featured on Nameberry. These truly unique names included Blessing, Dusty, Fernanda, Goldie, Hava, Hesed, Kilmer, Kinneret, Louna, Mirielle, Morag, Pia, Signy, Wulfwynn, and Zipporah.
Top Boy Names 2023
The most popular boy name in 2023 was Emrys, given to 4 Babyberries — three times as a first name, and once as a middle. E was also the most popular initial for boys, with Babyberries named Edmund, Elijah, Elis, Elliott, Emrys (x3), Ever, and Everett.
Other names used more than once as either a first or middle name included George (3 uses), and Edmund, Hugo, Robin, Sullivan, Wilder, and William (2 uses each).
Nature and word names remained as stylish as ever, with choices like Shepherd, Retro, Lux, Ocean, October, Everest, and Robin. There was also a trend towards elaborate, fantastical choices like Odyssey, Percival, and Summerset.
Surnames names were a popular choice, from the more familiar Sullivan, Monroe, Forrest, and Wilder, to one-of-a-kind choices like Bradford, McIntyre, Marsden, and McLaren. Longtime Nameberry favorites made plenty of appearances as well, including Felix, Hugo, Silas, Edmund, Caspian, and Henry.
One of our predictions of the hottest naming trends of 2024 is "Girl names for boys" — names that in recent history have leaned strongly female. Cleo, October, Ever, Leslie, and Robin are prime examples featured in the birth announcements of Babyberry boys this year.
Truly unique choices never used before in a Nameberry birth announcement include Aether, Antony, Bradford, Bramesh, Cruize, Dual, Elis, Haydn, Isadore, Jairus, Leslie, Loup, Lowen, McIntyre, McLaren, Mills, Odyssey, Ollie, Retro, Saylix, Summerset, Valen, Yulu, and Zaven.
Newest Arrivals:
To finish off the year, we of course need to celebrate the last few Babyberries to enter the world in 2023.
Please welcome the last of the class of 2023!
To read more about these choices – or to share your own child’s naming story for inclusion in our next Babyberry blog post – head over to our birth announcements forum.
Girl Names
Eden Noelle, sister to Quinn Louella and Evelyn Frances
"I can’t remember where I heard Eden from but we loved it when I floated it with my partner. Noelle is, of course, recognizing the fact that our girl was born on Christmas Eve."
Emily Irene "Emmy"
Fernanda Patricia
Greta Roxanne, sister to Arden (f) and Tatum (f)
Norah Bloom, sister to Judah and Hadassah
"Both names were on our list but never together."
Posey Belle Hope
"Last year we had a long and difficult miscarriage. We built a monument of stacked stones with God’s blessings and promises written on them. In a barren bed of pine needles and dirt, a beautiful bunch of purple posies grew up right beside the stones. Belle is after my great-great-great-grandmother. Hope is because 2 years ago God told me “her name is ‘Hope’” and that a little girl was coming."
Sterling Pauline, sister to Holland Caroline and Arden Beatrice
Sylvie Celine, sister to Flora Camille
Tess Evangeline, sister to Lincoln and Willa
"Tess was a name I found on Nameberry and suggested to my husband, who fell in love with it immediately. What tipped the scales for me was my husband having a lot of fears about having a third child. Choosing his favorite name for her helped him feel more connected to her. Evangeline means “bearer of good news,” which is perfect for a Christmas baby but also makes me think of Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, who proclaims peace…”'
Zipporah Bernadette, sister to AnnaLaei Maurine, Caideryn Christopher, Zola Gweneira, LeKhaiem Edmund and Odeleiah Ione
"I love its flow and since we have a three-letter one-syllable last name we can get away with such a long name. Her name means “a bird as brave as a bear” which is adorable and inspiring. We mostly call her Zipporah, but nicknames we’re trying include Zibby and Zizzi (my personal favorite, it’s spunky and sweet)."
Boy Names
Bramesh Valen "Bram", brother to Kalyan Ambrose "Kal"
"Pronounced Bram-esh. My husband is Indian and this is a very special name for us. Although it’s not something familiar to the typical English speaker, we adore it. We came across the name Valin very recently from a family I follow on Instagram, but we changed to the Latin spelling of Valen because of the meaning “strong and healthy” and because Ambrose is also Latin."
Blaise Edmund Leslie, brother to Eve, Meg, Lilia, Dot, Bess, Maria, Cora, Wyc, and Jo
"We wanted to give Blaise the name of a hero we admire — in this case, the 17th century scientist and theologian Blaise Pascal. But Blaise is also the French version of a German name that has been in the family for generations — Blasius — a name shared by Papa’s great, great-great, and great-great-great grandfathers. Edmund and Leslie are names that belong to his two grandmothers’ beloved fathers."
Drew Daniel Monroe
"His name for all of my pregnancy was Theo with the same 2 middle names but after seeing him we decided the name Drew fit him better."
Everett James, brother to Miles William, Amelia Kate, and Lucy Caroline
"I loved the strong and courageous meaning of Everett, and Joshua 1:9 came to my mind when we finalized his name. I wanted longevity, history and a name that was not too common, and I have loved the name in general since hearing it from the movie The Family Stone years ago. For all of our children we have used honor names for their middles and James is after his Daddy’s middle name."
Graham Robin
"I love Graham as a warm-feeling underused classic and frequently call him my little Teddy Graham. I chose Robin after my dad and brother Rob, using a diminutive of Robert to make it a gender-neutral nature name. I love that these birds represent warmth, renewal, and hope, which feels relevant to this season of life."
Hugo Dylan, brother to Mila Grace and Florence Ivy
Jonas Michael Wilder
"He is our IVF rainbow miracle and his name conjures up the symbol of peace. It makes me think of the dove returning the olive branch in the story of Noah and the Ark as well as God’s promise and the rainbow. Michael honours both my father and my husband’s brother. Wilder is to honour the bond between my husband and his stepfather, who raised him and bonded over being part of Boy Scouts"
Logan William, brother to Ella Rosemary and Max Reginald
"Logan wasn’t a name I would have really considered myself, but as we got closer to my due date and my husband started to think about names a little it was one of his suggestions. And I decided I liked it and it worked with the sibset. William is a family name like Rosemary and Reginald."
Luca Theodore Martin, brother to Lorenzo and Charlotte
"Ultimately, Luca felt like a nice summer name with the meaning “bringer of light” and the new Pixar movie adds to the appeal of a baby born in summer. I love Theodore's meaning “God’s gift” which he feels like he is in every way. It was between William and Martin for the family name spot and Martin won out. Slightly astrological and similar to my eldest’s full name and definitely familiar in all three countries."
Raphael Paz Yulu
"Raphael means “healing” and “reparation”, which we both find very touching. Paz is a reference to my grandfather, who was an orphan and war prisoner and yet still became a happy, content man. Yulu is Kikongo for “gift from heaven”. My partner’s grandmother was given this nickname because she always made bread for the people who visited the hospital in her village."
Silas McLaren Blake, brother to Gabriel Matthew Willliam "Gabe", Rebecca Kathleen Lyn "Rue", and Charles Monroe Clay "Charlie/Chuck"
"He joins his siblings, who lovingly call him Si. He’s named in honor of his great-great-great grandmother (McLaren) and his uncle (Blake). McLaren also connects his name to his brothers’ and Dad’s middle names which also begin with M."
Sullivan David
"Sullivan is one of the few names my husband and I have always agreed on! We like the nickname options of Sully and Van. It’s a subtle nod to Disney, without being too in your face about it, which honors my mom and her love of Disney. David is an honor name after my dad who has been a huge part of my life and continues to be a huge part of my son’s life."
Zaven Anders, brother to Lusine
"My husband is part Armenian, and has an Armenian name, so we wanted an Armenian name easily spelled and pronounced. Anders is to honour my great-grandmother Marion whose maiden name was Anderson. She passed away in 2016 and was very dear to me and everyone in the family."
Huge congratulations to all of the 2023 parents, and here’s to many more beautifully named Babyberries in 2024!
If you’d like your child’s name to be featured in our next Babyberry blog post, tell us the name you chose and the story behind it over on our birth announcements forum.