Berry Baby Names: Real-Life Choices of 2016
By Linda Rosenkrantz with Esmeralda Rocha
We recently posted a list of the names that you Berries showed the greatest interest in over the past year—topped by the not-too-surprising Olivia and Amelia, (both of which ranked in the top dozen nationally), and Ezra and Asher. But now we want to look at the names that were actually chosen when the moment of decision finally arrived, when the clicking and sharing stopped and all the tempting possibilities had to be narrowed down to that one ultimate, single, final choice.
Of course we know that, sadly, only a small percentage of berry births get recorded in our Birth Announcement Forum, our only available source (Memo to those expecting new arrivals in 2017: Resolve to share your choices with all of us!). But still, more than 300 new parents did enter their picks.
So which were the most popular among them?
On the girls’ side, Violet and Juliet/Juliette tied for top place among those used as either first and middle names, tying at 8 each. Olive and Violet were the most chosen first names, and Pearl was the most popular middle.
For boys, classic James was tops in total usage, followed by Theodore. There was a 3-way tie for boys’ first names: Arthur, Jasper and Lucas, while James was the most popular middle.
First Names
Here are the girls’ names given to at least three recorded babyberries:
And for boys:
Middle Names
Used three or more times for girls:
Rose (down from 6 last year to 3 in 2016)
And for boys:
Wolf (replacing last year’s Fox)
Trends
NATURE names continued to blossom for girls, not only flowers and gems, but birds, rivers, trees, etc., including:
Edelweiss
Wildrose
Non-nature WORD names for girls included:
Darling
There were also lots of mythological, ancient and romantic literary names, from Amoret to Calliope to Calypso to Melisande to Nephele to Persephone to Sabine to Theodosia.
Vintage name remained staunch favorites, with announcements of girls names ranging from Ada, Adelaide, Adeline and Alice to Willa, Winnie and Zelda.
There were also lots of intriguing international imports, including Amal, Anais, Feodora, Mireille, Omorose. Signe and Vasilia.
Berries were not immune to the gender-bending trend, with girls named Grey, Hunter, James, Jericho, Rowe and Wilder.
For boys, there were a number of powerful mythological names, as in:
And, intentionally or not, some boys were downright presidential:
And the boys proved to be as international as the girls, with such choices as:
Azaias
Surname names were another popular boys’ category, from Calloway to Jameson to Kincaid to Nash to Rooney to Sullivan.
Word names given to boyberries included Cedar, Fox, Heath, Prosper, River, Shadow and Wolf.
But in general for boys, traditional names ruled, with a healthy representation of classics like James, John and Joseph and revivals such as Amos, Clement, Douglas, Edgar, Edwin, Eugene, Harold, Silas, Tobias.