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babynamesThe hottest baby names 2012 -- those attracting the biggest spikes in views on Nameberry for the first six months of this year -- are an astonishing group: Highly unusual yet strangely familiar, heavily influenced by pop culture yet boldly individualistic.
The strongest baby name influences right now: "Hunger Games," "Game of Thrones," and ancient Rome. Many of the hot names relate to nature and to worlds beyond our own. And most share a transcendence of traditional gender identity, containing elements of names for the opposite gender if not crossing over to unisex territory.
Nameberry’s hottest names so far this year, based on over six million views of our individual name pages, are (in order of popularity):
Senna
The female Senna and its near-identical male twin Cinna dominate the top of Nameberry's hot list, both up a mind-blowing 1500 percent over last year. But we predict Senna, name of a "Twilight" vampire and a tragic racecar driver, will be used more often in real life. Like Cinna, Senna carries a "Hunger Games" influence: It's an obscure botanical name meaning "brightness" in Arabic, an ingredient in a dieters' tea.
Niall
An ancient Irish name that means cloud and was borne by several high kings, Niall seemed an unlikely hottie until Niall Horan of the rock band One Direction came along and made it cool again. He pronounces it like the river - Nile - which gives it a nature element as well; pronouncing it like Neil definitely makes it more old school.
Arya
We talked about the hotness of Aria earlier this year, but now we're seeing an even bigger rise - over 800 percent - in Arya, the cognate used in "Game of Thrones." Arya Stark, daughter of a ruler of one of the kingdoms, is separated from her family and raised as a boy and expert sword fighter.
Decimus
Decimus, which means tenth, is an ancient Roman name of the kind that is suddenly all the rage, thanks to a combination of "The Hunger Games", in which many of the male characters have ancient Roman names. Decimus was the middle name of Maximus, Russell Crowe's "Gladiator" character. Other Latin names such as Nero and Tiberius are also hot on Nameberry right now.
Caia
If vampires and ancient Romans can influence baby names, why not werewolves? Caia is the name of the half-witch, half-lycan main character of the Lunarmorte series of novels by Samantha Young. And Caia has an ancient Roman connection too: She was the goddess of fire and of women.
Gatsby
Literary names from 20th century classics, including names of characters and literary figures alike, have become stylish. The unusual Gatsby, The Great of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, is sure to rise even further when the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio debuts at Christmas. Gatsby's hotness follows last year's Hadley, real name of The Paris Wife of Ernest Hemingway, along with Atticus and Harper, the hero and the author of To Kill A Mockingbird.
Blue
Beyonce and Jay-Z's choice of Blue for their daughter catapulted this stylish but quietly-used color name to superstardom, up over 600 percent on Nameberry in the first half of the year. The name Blue might also be thought of as the ultimate nature name, relating to sky, water, and flowers.
Sybil
The lovely Lady Sybil Crawley has restored the image of this name as expertly as she nursed the wounded soldiers at Downton Abbey. The taint of multiple personality disorder is gone now that the other Sybil has confessed she was faking, and that few people remember the ancient oracle who first defined the name. The original but less-used spelling is actually Sibyl.
Calix
There's a major trend afoot of boys' names rising on the heels of their stylish female counterparts: Emmett after Emma and Emily, Everett after Eva and Eve, and now Calix, a Greek name meaning beautiful and the male version of Calista and Callie. The X ending makes it particularly appealing, a cooler version of Alex.
Halcyon
Is Halcyon the new Nevaeh? The Halcyone was a mythical kingfisher bird who could calm the seas, and Halcyon is getting fresh attention as a first name for both boys and girls, despite the sleeping pill association. TV actress Beth Littleford recently named her daughter Halcyon Juna.
Django
The title character of the next Quentin Tarantino movie is a freed slave, but the most famous real-life Django was Belgian jazz guitarist Reinhardt, who adopted the Gypsy nickname meaning "I awake." If you're confused on pronunciation, the d is silent and the g is hard.
Nova
Another heavenly name relating to the stars and meaning "new," Nova is on the rise along with celestial sister names like Luna and Aurora.
Theon
Theon is another unusual name from the George R. R. Martin books that has ancient roots: Theon was a Greek teacher of mathematics and astronomy who was father to the first woman mathematician.
SOURCE: Nameberry via Huffington Post
The strongest baby name influences right now: "Hunger Games," "Game of Thrones," and ancient Rome. Many of the hot names relate to nature and to worlds beyond our own. And most share a transcendence of traditional gender identity, containing elements of names for the opposite gender if not crossing over to unisex territory.
Nameberry’s hottest names so far this year, based on over six million views of our individual name pages, are (in order of popularity):
Senna
The female Senna and its near-identical male twin Cinna dominate the top of Nameberry's hot list, both up a mind-blowing 1500 percent over last year. But we predict Senna, name of a "Twilight" vampire and a tragic racecar driver, will be used more often in real life. Like Cinna, Senna carries a "Hunger Games" influence: It's an obscure botanical name meaning "brightness" in Arabic, an ingredient in a dieters' tea.
Niall
An ancient Irish name that means cloud and was borne by several high kings, Niall seemed an unlikely hottie until Niall Horan of the rock band One Direction came along and made it cool again. He pronounces it like the river - Nile - which gives it a nature element as well; pronouncing it like Neil definitely makes it more old school.
Arya
We talked about the hotness of Aria earlier this year, but now we're seeing an even bigger rise - over 800 percent - in Arya, the cognate used in "Game of Thrones." Arya Stark, daughter of a ruler of one of the kingdoms, is separated from her family and raised as a boy and expert sword fighter.
Decimus
Decimus, which means tenth, is an ancient Roman name of the kind that is suddenly all the rage, thanks to a combination of "The Hunger Games", in which many of the male characters have ancient Roman names. Decimus was the middle name of Maximus, Russell Crowe's "Gladiator" character. Other Latin names such as Nero and Tiberius are also hot on Nameberry right now.
Caia
If vampires and ancient Romans can influence baby names, why not werewolves? Caia is the name of the half-witch, half-lycan main character of the Lunarmorte series of novels by Samantha Young. And Caia has an ancient Roman connection too: She was the goddess of fire and of women.
Gatsby
Literary names from 20th century classics, including names of characters and literary figures alike, have become stylish. The unusual Gatsby, The Great of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, is sure to rise even further when the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio debuts at Christmas. Gatsby's hotness follows last year's Hadley, real name of The Paris Wife of Ernest Hemingway, along with Atticus and Harper, the hero and the author of To Kill A Mockingbird.
Blue
Beyonce and Jay-Z's choice of Blue for their daughter catapulted this stylish but quietly-used color name to superstardom, up over 600 percent on Nameberry in the first half of the year. The name Blue might also be thought of as the ultimate nature name, relating to sky, water, and flowers.
Sybil
The lovely Lady Sybil Crawley has restored the image of this name as expertly as she nursed the wounded soldiers at Downton Abbey. The taint of multiple personality disorder is gone now that the other Sybil has confessed she was faking, and that few people remember the ancient oracle who first defined the name. The original but less-used spelling is actually Sibyl.
Calix
There's a major trend afoot of boys' names rising on the heels of their stylish female counterparts: Emmett after Emma and Emily, Everett after Eva and Eve, and now Calix, a Greek name meaning beautiful and the male version of Calista and Callie. The X ending makes it particularly appealing, a cooler version of Alex.
Halcyon
Is Halcyon the new Nevaeh? The Halcyone was a mythical kingfisher bird who could calm the seas, and Halcyon is getting fresh attention as a first name for both boys and girls, despite the sleeping pill association. TV actress Beth Littleford recently named her daughter Halcyon Juna.
Django
The title character of the next Quentin Tarantino movie is a freed slave, but the most famous real-life Django was Belgian jazz guitarist Reinhardt, who adopted the Gypsy nickname meaning "I awake." If you're confused on pronunciation, the d is silent and the g is hard.
Nova
Another heavenly name relating to the stars and meaning "new," Nova is on the rise along with celestial sister names like Luna and Aurora.
Theon
Theon is another unusual name from the George R. R. Martin books that has ancient roots: Theon was a Greek teacher of mathematics and astronomy who was father to the first woman mathematician.
SOURCE: Nameberry via Huffington Post
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no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 04:03 pm (UTC)Arya- I really like this name. I'm also a fan of the character in Game of Thrones
Blue - just awful. I just can't get on board with this name. My cousins had a dog named Blue.
Nova - this makes me think of the PBS show or of a Super Nova. It certainly is heavenly, but its not a name I would go with.
Theon - This character is a villian in Game of Thrones, also not a name I would consider.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 04:15 pm (UTC)Gatsby is a bit odd. I mean, I adore the book, absolutely love it, and I even added Daisy to my list after I first read it, but Gatsby is so obvious. And it's a surname.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 04:31 pm (UTC)However, I've been following Nameberry pretty closely lately because its pretentiousness makes me laugh. They think people are really naming their kids these things, when in fact, people are just looking them up on their website. Even then, it's a small pool of people, so when they say these names will reach the Top 100 or whatever, that's really their way of telling themselves that they're relevant.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 05:04 pm (UTC)But the other names...Man...I keep thinking my daughters middle name is too out there but then I see these and her name seems normal.
And I could never really fathom why people would name their child after a colour...I get Scarlett, that one to me works, but Blue? I just think of something really southern and trashy....
no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 05:58 pm (UTC)Arya makes me think of an aria...I majored in music in the strings department and the vocal majors were always kind of our unspoken enemies (haha) so the name is tainted for me, pretty as it is. I hate opera.
All the other ones are horrible, in my opinion.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 09:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 09:56 pm (UTC)However, she has also predicted Nova will be a top mover for 2012 because it's one of the Teen Mom reality show names, and the previous few years, many of the biggest top movers have been from that show (Maci and Bentley for example).
no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 12:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 01:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 01:30 am (UTC)I adore the name Niall but SO would never agree to it, ha.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 02:26 am (UTC)Gatsby Lennox, or Gatsby Atticus, perhaps? Maybe Gatsby James for a girl...
no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 09:30 am (UTC)I don't like any of these. Arya (if pronounced Aria) is ok and i like Sybil.
Gastby? Really?
no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-18 12:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-24 11:36 pm (UTC)I was just thinking the same thing and got tired of stumbling over the pronunciation every time I read it, so I just started calling him Neil.