New Names of the 2010s

This overly trendy spelling jumped into the Top 1000 names in 2013. It got there by being the fourth fastest-rising name on the 2013 list, riding the increasing popularity of Journey and Journee.

Jurnee

A superlative word name along the lines of Saint, King, Princess, and Chosen, Royal was mostly used for boys — as in Wes Anderson's anti-hero Royal Tennenbaum — until Lil' Kim named her daughter Royal. Reign in 2014. While it was Reign that really took off for girls, Royal also got a boost and entered the Top 1000 in 2015.
 
Associated with kings, queens, princesses, and power, Royal has a cool but lofty air: it feels totally modern while also evoking history. Also used as a surname (in which case it likely denoted someone who worked in the royal household), it comes from the Latin regalis and rex meaning "king".
 
Recent years have seen it fall to the latter end of the US charts while it remains a high ranking option for boys. Longer form Royalty, however, rankers more highly as a girl name.

Royal

An undiscovered patronymic surname, Gibson blends the cool, rugged feel of names like Bridger, Riggs, and Hudson with the clunky charm of names like Gilbert, Wilbur, and Digby. Associated with the popular brand of guitars, it could make an unexpected, music-related option. 
 Though rarely heard in front place, Gibson is a popular surname that has been dotted across popular culture—think actors Mel and Thomas, buckaroo Hoot, tennis champ Althea, baseball stars Josh and Kirk, and the illustrator famed as the "Gibson Girl" creator, Charles Dana Gibson.

Gibson

All names connected with royalty have become increasingly popular in recent years, and King variation Kyng is no exception. Some parents may feel that the Kyng spelling makes it more of a name and less of a royal title, but both names sound the same and have identical meanings, so why endlessly complicate spelling and pronunciation?

Kyng

Mayson, usually a spelling variation of the popular boys' occupational name Mason, has been on the US Top 1000 since 2010. This follows as trend for adding the letter Y to a name or substitution as Y for another vowel, as in Ayden or Kaytlyn. 

Mayson may also be a surname name referring to a person with an association to the month of May.

Mayson

Maliah is a spelling variation of former First Daughter's name Malia and has seen some use since it first appeared on the US Top 1000 in 2009.

Maliah

Anson has always been rare, though you might think of actor Anson Williams, best known for playing Potsie Weber on 1970s sitcom Happy Days. As a direct result of the show's popularity, Anson charted in the US Top 1000 from 1976 to 1981.
 Now a new generation of parents is discovering this English surname name. Anson could substitute for fading favorites like Alan and Austin. The name reentered the US Top 1000 in 2013 after a long absence.

Anson

This car name is made even worse by the trendy -ee suffix. If you've got your heart set on this name, consider going with the original spelling.

Bentlee

This name of the Cretan goddess of fertility is most popular now as the more melodic Ariana, but Ariadne has possibilities of its own. It first entered the US Top 1000 in 2014. The renewed interest in the name falls in line with the revival of other mythological names like Apollo and Athena. The trendy nickname Ari doesn't hurt either.
 In Greek mythology, she was the daughter of Minus who gave Theseus the thread by which he escaped from the labyrinth. After being deserted by him, she married Dionysus, the god of fertility, wine and drama

Ariadne

The boys' name Elon is best known today as the name of Elon Musk, eccentric billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX. With Canadian singer Grimes, Elon Musk has a son with an even more unusual name, X Æ A-12. 
Before Musk arrived on the scene, Elon was the name of a Biblical judge. Long obscure, naming your son Elon today would signal an admiration for Musk rather than the Good Book. 

Taken on its own merits, Elon is a sleek, attractive name with a strong nature meaning that's rare but also has deep roots: A total winner. But now that shiny name is feeling a bit....Musky.

Elon

On one hand, this may be a twist on the unisex Emery, to make it more obviously feminine - and to make it stand out from Emery, Emory, and Emerie, which all rank in the US Top 600.
 
Alternatively, it is a smoosh name, combining the classic names, Emma and Marie, into something that sounds modern and on trend. This could work as an unexpected honor name if you happen to what to honor an Emma (or an Emmett, an Emily, or an Emmanuel) and a Marie (or a Maria or a Mary) at the same time.
 
Emmarie made a brief appearance in the US Top 1000 back in 2018 when it was given to 265 girls.

Emmarie

Less popular than Camden by a lot and Kamdyn by a little. The prominent trend of substituting other vowels with a y continues to propel new spellings of names up the popularity list, which was the case when Camdyn made its first appearance on the US Top 1000 in 2010.

Camdyn

The American appetite for new names ending in the letters "yn" knows no bounds. This one, a close relative of popular Jaxson, was among the fastest-rising boys' names of 2017.

Jaxtyn

The popular -ley suffix can be credited for this name's use in recent years. We're not loving that it sounds as trendy and of-the-moment as it is.

Brentley

An easily adaptable Middle Eastern names, partly because of its similarity to the western Camila, Kamilah has gentle sounds and a bright meaning. It is a feminine form of Kamil, meaning "perfect, complete", though it could simply be used as an alternative spelling to US Top 50 Camila. 

Kamilah

The name of a historic Irish leader, Gannon has a solid, yet spirited feel. It was one of the fastest-rising names of 2014, but that trend didn't continue. One pop culture influence was the name of Teen Mom 3 son Gannon Dewayne McKee.

Gannon

Writer Bill Bryson may have played some role in popularizing this surname-name, which might be considered a latter-day Brian (or Bryan). We prefer Bryson.

Brysen

Queen has seen a revival in recent times, reaching its record high in 2018 with 280 births — it has remained steady since then. Previously, Queen saw a peak in the 1920s, but its origins go back even further than that. Queen was a noted name among enslaved people in America, along with other royal choices such as Duke, Squire, and Prince.


Queen

This name is currently best known on The Bachelorette's Tenley Molzahn. In the 1950s, it was attached to the Olympic figure skating champion Tenley Albright, and Jessica Biel played a Tenley in the movie Summer Catch. 
The trendy ley ending makes Tenley feel familiar, but the unique Ten beginning sets is apart from more popular names like Hadley, Oakley, and OG fashionable ley-ending name Ashley.

Tenley

Ultimately, many parents attracted to Tinley's appealing -inley rhythm may decide they can do better with the first syllable than "tin" and move on to Finley, Brinley, or Kinley.

Tinley

 in 2018....but not ten years before. They are the baby names that defined the decade of the 2010s, rising from obscurity — sometimes thousands of years of it — or newly created to find widespread favor with parents.

If you gave your child one of these names in 2008, you probably thought you'd made an unusual, intriguing choice — and you had! You may be annoyed that the name has gotten so much more popular, or proud that you were visionary enough to pick a winner.

If you choose one of these names now, know that you've picked a name perfectly in step with the times. But also know that you've chosen one that has been leaping up the charts and almost certainly has further to go.

Newly popular names in the 2010s, boy names, girl names, modern names, with meanings, origins, and popularity (Page 26)

Hot New Names of the 2010s