Popular Baby Names: 50 shooting stars
By Linda Rosenkrantz
What are the most promising of the names rising in popularity?
This year 164 names—more girls’ than boys’ –made up the elite group of popular baby names that rose more than 100 places. (fyi: At the top for each gender were Riaan, with an increase of 1360 spots and Alaia, with 2012). And the new gender fluidity is shown in many of these choices (hello, Ms Elliott and Ms Lennox).
These jumps brought several of these popular baby names into the Top 1000: look for those that are marked with an asterisk.
So here are our picks of the brightest of the shooting stars:
GIRLS
Adele—Thank the fabulous singer for her name’s 114-point rise
Arden* — Two YouTube stars named Arden helped promote this fresh-feeling A-name
Blake—Singular sparkplug: the lovely Blake Lively
Briar*—An extraordinary leap of 597 places for this sweet fairy tale name
Clementine—Long loved on Nameberry, darling Clementine is now on the rise nationally
Elliott—A boy name on the upswing for girls but still holding its own for the blue team
Esme—French-accented name first made famous in a story by J.D. Salinger, up by 128 rankings; it’s 50 in England, 37 on Nameberry
Frankie*—Red hot boyish nickname name, favored by several celebs, starting with Drew Barrymore
Freya–Norse goddess name even more popular in Ireland, England and Scotland, where it’s #13
Gwen—Vintage short form up 213 places, with credit to high-profile singer Stefani
Hattie – Cute old-fashioned nickname first revived by Tori Spelling
Kensington*–A surprising surname boosted by two reality stars
Lennon—Beatles name growing for girls via YouTube star Lennon Stella
Lennox—Up a major 416 places for girls, while just rising 96 spots for boys
Luz*—Spanish name meaning light, shining now beyond Hispanic baby namers
Magnolia—Fragrant Southern flower name has climbed 197 places to #633
Margot—This is the winning version over the simpler Margo spelling, up 145 spots
Ophelia*—Once a Shakespearean no-no, Ophelia has risen into the Top 1000 and #30 on Nameberry
Remy —Solidly unisex, Remy is now #101 for girls, #161 for boys
River—Used increasingly for girls, propelled in part by Kelly Clarkson’s daughter
Rory—Charming Irish boy name rising for girls—one of many gender shares
Sutton—Surname popularized via Sutton Foster, star of TV hit _Younger (_based on the novel by my Nameberry co-creator Pamela Redmond Satran!)
Thea—Lovely Greek myth name that has jumped 312 spots to reach #464
Vienna*—Lyrical Continental place name joins cousin Sienna on the name map
Zelda*—A super high jumper—512 spots—indicating a glorious return after 50 years
BOYS
Achilles*–Classic Homeric Greek hero name hit the US Top 1000 this year
Atlas—Showed his super strength by climbing 149 places in a single bound
**Augustine—**Saintly member of the August–Augustus family rose 134 spots
Azariah—Biblical surprise moved up 100+ places for both boys and girls!
Beckham—UK sports legend’s name has now reached #359 in the US
Bodhi—Spiritual rising star given to almost a dozen starbabies
Cairo*–This exotic o-ending city name went up 164 places, is now in the Top 1000
Dash—Disney character + KarDASHians + Dashiell nickname =182-place rise
Denver*—Long-established place-name has a sudden surge of +155
Ford—Strong single-syllable surname used as a middle by Owen Wilson
Gordon-Scottish classic makes a bid to replace Jordan, reentered the list in 2014
Hendrix—Cool x-ending rocker name has just entered the Top 500
Huxley*—Distinguished family name is one of the steepest climbers–392 places
Lachlan—Another rising Scottish classic: Lachlan entered the US list in 2013
Legend–An evocative word name with ties to musician John: up 144 places to #392
Louie*–Surprise nickname comeback this year; even bigger in the UK at #67
Mack –After a long, deep dip, good guy Mack is back in town
Magnus—Powerful Latin name used by both Will Ferrell and Elizabeth Banks
Matteo—Represents the romantic Latin classics so popular with celebs
Otis*—O-name slateded for stardom, picked by Olivia Wilde +Jason Sudeikis
Ridge* –This strong, if not macho, word name ascended 204 places in 2015
Royal—This newly popular aspirational name zoomed up to #465
Theo—Handsome stand-alone nickname name entered the Top 500 this year
Tobias—On-trend s-ending Harry Potter choice often worn by TV characters
Wilder*–Wilder’s a winner—up a whopping 360 places in one year!