Sedins legacy includes surge in B.C. babies named Henrik

Which Sedin is better, Daniel or Henrik?

It’s an argument for the ages. Despite being identical twins, the Sedin brothers each brought something different to the ice in their 18-year National Hockey League careers.

Goal-centric Vancouver Canucks fans often lean toward the scoring winger Daniel and his franchise record of 391 career markers, while those who prefer playmakers hold more than a passing interest in Henrik, who holds the club records for both assists (829) and points (1,069).

The only stat that matters, however, is baby names. You aren’t truly great until someone names their progeny after you.

B.C.’s Vital Statistics Agency maintains a searchable database of the most popular baby names from the birth registrations over the past 100 years.

From this nursery of knowledge, we can see that the name Henrik first started appearing on B.C. baby announcements in 2007, which, maybe not so coincidentally, was the year following the Sedins’ breakout season.

Despite being the No. 2 and 3 picks in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, Daniel and Henrik didn’t blossom into scoring stars until the 2005-06 campaign, when they tallied 71 and 74 points respectively after being teamed with veteran winger Anson Carter, who scored a team-high 33 goals for the Canucks that season.

And then, boom! Baby Henriks started arriving.

There wasn’t one baby Henrik born in British Columbia between the years 1918 and 2006, but there have been 62 — all boys — since 2007.

Interestingly, the largest spike — 13 baby Henriks — came in 2011, the year of the Canucks’ march to the Stanley Cup final.

Daniel, a much more common moniker in North America, actually dipped in popularity during the twins’ tenure in Vancouver.

There was a steady decline from 203 baby Daniels in 1999 to 135 in 2017, although there were a couple of spikes in 2007 (187) and 2010 (171).

Another stat worth noting is the rise in babies named Bo since the 2014 arrival of Canucks centre Bo Horvat.

There have been 43 British Columbian babies named Bo since Vancouver drafted Horvat in June 2013.