WE NAME YOU LUX KOALA WILLIAMS
THE BABY NAME WEBSITE, NAMEBERRY, PREDICTS WHAT WE WILL BE CALLING OUR NEW ARRIVALS IN 2019... AND SOME OF THEM ARE PRETTY WILD
OLIVIA and Oliver may currently be the UK’S favourite baby names, but what will take the top spot in 2019?
Researchers at baby name website Nameberry.com have revealed their predictions based on which names attract the most views from visitors to the site each month.
Here Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz, the site’s creators and co-authors of 10 best-selling books about names, talk us through the trends they expect to see in the next 12 months:
CELEBRITY SURNAME-NAMES
CELEBRITIES have influenced baby names since the days of Shirley Temple, and surnames repurposed as first names – such as Morgan and Carter – have been rising since the conservative 1980s.
Now those two trends have combined into one megatrend: Celebrity surnames for baby girls and boys. Goodbye, Shirley; hello, Temple.
Examples: Beckham; Bowie; Hendrix; Jolie; Ledger; Lennon; Lennox; Monroe; Wilder.
OLD-SCHOOL NICKNAMES FOR BOYS
WE’RE seeing charming vintage ‘nickname’ names like Archie, Alfie and Freddie beginning to rival their female counterparts Millie, Maisie and Josie, but more surprising to us is the nascent revival of early 20th century favourites like Johnny, Jimmy and Billy on birth certificates, names which once were confined to old radio and TV shows. Even more startling is the reappearance of some generic appellations, appealing to the hipster sensibilities of celebs.
Examples: Ace; Billy; Buddy; Buster; Hank; Ike; Jimmy; Johnny; Sonny; Spike.
MOST FASHIONABLE CONSONANT: F
F HAS suddenly rocketed forward, particularly for boys, and particularly for boys’ names of Irish descent.
Then there’s the whole Family Fran (Frances, Frankie etc), which started to take off after the election to the papacy of Pope Francis.
Fashion-forward names starting with F include the following: Examples: Faye; Felix; Fern; Finnian; Flora; Frederick; Frost.
WILD MIDDLE NAMES
PARENTS who want to add a touch of individuality to more conventional first name choices are turning to the animal kingdom for the wild vibe. Examples: Bear; Falcon; Fox; Hawk; Koala; Lion; Lynx; Otter; Tiger; Wolf.
A TREND TOO FAR: ‘EM’ NAMES
WE PREDICT that baby namers are about to become all Emmed-out in 2019.
After all, we had Emily in the top 25 for 35 years, at number one for 12 of them. Then came Emma, in the top 25 since 1998, and still reigning in first place.
A number of dueling Em-names followed in their wake and we predict that the consensus is about to be that enough Em is enough. Examples: Ember; Emerson; Emery; Emilia; Emily; Emma; Emme; Emmeline; Emmett; Emmy.
BIG PICTURE TREND: GLOBAL NAMES
AS THE world gets smaller, the pool of names becomes larger, with new names with ever-more-diverse origins entering the global lexicon.
At Nameberry we’ve added thousands of new names from around the world: Maori names and Xhosa names, ancient Greek names and South American Indian names, Korean names and Israeli names.
With the appetite for meaningful and unique names expanding all the time, parents are looking for original choices with deep roots. Examples: Acacius; Aroha; Cyrene; Jedda; Kiran; Lautaro; Lior; Niabi; Sena; Walken.
NONBINARY NAMES
PARENTS who want to raise their children free of gender stereotypes are looking for names that are truly gender neutral. And if the names also evidence a gender-free ideal such as Justice, all the better. Examples: Briar; Campbell; Finley; Journey; Justice; Laken; Revel; Robin; Royal; Story.
EASTERN INSPIRATION
NAMES related to Eastern religions and non-european mythology have
Parents who want to raise their children free of gender stereotypes are looking for names that are truly gender neutral
taken over from Biblical and saints’ names as spiritual favourites. The rise in the popularity of yoga, meditation, and nontraditional spiritualism underpins the trend, along with a search for meaning that transcends the name’s surface qualities such as style and sound. Examples: Asherah; Bodhi; Kali; Lakshmi; Manu; Osiris; Raiden; Rama; Tanith; Zen.
COLOURFUL ALTERNATIVES
ALL colour names for babies are, well, colourful, but we’re beginning to see a shift in tone as vibrant shades like Scarlett, Ruby and Poppy are giving way to softer pastels.
Grey/gray is starting to replace Blue as a first and middle colour name du jour, while popular Violet has been joined by other vintage pale purplish hues. Another prediction: More
Crayola names for boys. Examples: Ash; Fawn; Grey/gray; Ivory; Lavender; Lilac; Mauve; Moss; Olive; Sage.
COOLEST VOWEL: U
U FINALLY gets its turn in the spotlight this year. As a first initial, U is the least used letter of the alphabet, and it hasn’t featured in any major baby name trends in a long time. But now u – and its oo sound – features in many newly stylish names. Is it the influence of little Prince Louis? His parents’ unexpected name choice may just have given this trend a major boost. Examples: Eulalie; Hugo; Jude; Juniper; Louise; Luca; Luna; Reuben; Tallulah; True.
RARE GEMS
FOR a long time the most popular jewel names have been those usually assigned to girls—ruby, Pearl, Amber – all of which came into favour at the turn of the last century, along with floral and other nature names.
But one of the most interesting new areas to be mined is the more unusual gem names which can be for girls, boys, or sometimes both. Examples: Amethyst; Emerald; Garnet; Jasper; Jet; Onyx; Opal; Peridot; Sapphire; Topaz.
THREE-LETTER LOVE
FOUR letters might be a current favourite name length, a la Emma and Liam, but it seems that parents think the shorter the better. Minimalist three-letter names are the wave of the future. Examples: Hal; Ida; Jem; Kit; Koa; Liv; Lux; Rex;
Rio; Van. VISIT nameberry.com for more.