Newly released data on baby names in 2015 reveals that parents took increased inspiration from planets, the TV show “Empire” and Instagram filters when choosing monikers for their newborns.
According to BabyCenter, the top names for boys and girls in 2015 were also previous years’ most popular — Jackson and Sophia, respectively. The next most-picked boy and girl names of the year are Aiden and Emma.
Top 10 girl names of 2015:
- Sophia
- Emma
- Olivia
- Ava
- Mia
- Isabella
- Zoe
- Lily
- Emily
- Madison
Top 10 boy names of 2015:
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- Jackson
- Aiden
- Liam
- Lucas
- Noah
- Mason
- Ethan
- Caden
- Logan
- Jacob
“Our data shows that the top-10 list stays relatively stable for three to five years,” Linda Murray, editor in chief of BabyCenter, said in a statement. “Sophia has been a powerhouse for six years, thanks to the variety of spelling options and the multi-ethnic, multi-language appeal of the name. I predict Jackson’s popularity will be more fleeting. We’ll likely have a new number-one boys’ name next year.”
One trend for baby names this year included regal-sounding ones like Royalty, which saw a leap of 88% from the year before. Duchess (up 75%) and Princess (up 22%) were the next top trending royalty-themed names.
On the boys’ side, Royal was up 36%, and Reign, which is what reality star Kourtney Kardashian named her youngest boy born a little less than a year ago, jumped 54%.
The most interesting trend, however, was the frequency of babies named after Instagram filters. Although not technically a filter on the app, Lux rose 75% on the year for baby boys. Following behind Lux were Ludwig (up 42%), Amaro (up 26%), Reyes (up 10%), Hudson (up 4%), and Kelvin (up 3%).
For girls, 2015 saw 30% more instances of the name Juno, followed by Valencia (up 26%) and Willow (up 13%) as the most popular Instagram-related names for babies.
“This is the first time we’ve seen technology break through as a source of name inspiration,” Murray said. “Photo-sharing is a daily and emotional part of Millennials’ lives, and those two ingredients can trigger love for a name.”
Another popular source for names this year was the hit show “Empire.” Dre was the biggest mover (up 77%), followed by Lyon (up 61%) and Hakeem (up 55%).
Other baby-naming trends had 2015 see a rise in young adult fiction character names like Hazel (“The Fault in Our Stars”), up 52%, and Eleanor (“Eleanor & Park”), up 20%, as well as planet and star-themed names like Venus (up 68%), Gaia (up 32%), Jupiter (up 50%) and Sunny (up 43%).
