by Linda Rosenkrantz
Doesn’t it sometimes seem that just about any word in the dictionary can find its way onto a birth certificate these days? (Yes, looking at you, Kardashians!). And it’s not only color and flower and occupational nouns, but even adjectives and adverbs that were never conceived of as names before.
The current Social Security list is packed with word names of every description, many of which are rising in popularity. The list below divides the ascenders into distinctive categories–representing current trends–with those that have made the greatest leaps marked with an asterisk.
NATURE-RELATED WORD NAMES
*Azalea-#510, flower name also influenced by Iggy Azalea
Briar–#687–used by Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen, Disney associations
Forest—new on the list with this spelling
Ivy-#86, #30 on Nameberry
*Juniper, #281
*Magnolia, #314, used by Adrian Young of No Doubt
*Meadow, #516, first attracted attention on The Sopranos
*Poppy, #592, used by chef Jamie Oliver, also actress Poppy Montgomery
Raven, #412, played by Jennifer Lawrence in the X-Men films
Ridge, #702,
*River—for both boys (#197) and girls (#244)
Willow, #62, grown daughter of Jada Pinkett and Will Smith
Plus 3 gem names in pursuit of Ruby:
Onyx—new to the list, #867 boys; used for their daughter by Alanis Morissette and Souleye
Opal-#820
Pearl–#647, used by Maya Rudolph
SEASONAL WORD NAMES
August—new on the list for girls, #905
Summer-#199
Sunny, #871, daughter of Adam Sandler
Winter, #390, daughter of Nicole Ritchie and Joel Madden
ASPIRATIONAL WORD NAMES
*Ace, #255, associated with Ace Frehley of Kiss
*Atlas, #291
Legacy, #787 girls, artist Legacy Russell
*Legend, #217 boys, associated with John Legend, used by Donald Glover
Promise—new to the list, #908
ROYALLY ASPIRATIONAL WORD NAMES
Duke, #531, John Wayne nickname
Prince, #318, legendary pop star
Queen—new to the list, #959–British band, hit movie
*Reign—girls-#532
Royal—boys–#483, ‘The Royal Tenenbaums
Royalty—girls–#371
SPIRITUAL, SERENE, LYRICAL WORD NAMES
Deacon–#486–used by Reese Witherspoon, Marvel Comics character
*Dream–#621–dreamed up by Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian
Harmony–#175
Journey–#231
Lyric, #323
Melody, #137
*Mercy—a classic virtue name–#729
Saint—new to the list, thanks to Kimye, #859
Serenity, #76
BOLD WORD NAMES
Cannon-#538
Maverick–#73
Scout—new for girls–#976
Wilder–#523
Single-Syllable C boys—in a class of their own
Case–#506
Cash–#276
Clay–#687
*Colt–#236
Creed—new to the list–#962
*Crew–#573
In addition to these hot up-and-comers, there are lots of other word names on the list still holding their own or slightly slipping– from Amber and April to Hunter and Heavenly.
What’s your favorite word name?
Linda Rosenkrantz
Linda Rosenkrantz is the co-founder of Nameberry, and co-author with Pamela Redmond of the ten baby naming books acknowledged to have revolutionized American baby naming. You can follow her personally at Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed New York Review Books Classics novel Talk and a number of other books.