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These Are the Biggest Baby Name Trends of 2018

Pop culture has a whole lot to do with it.
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By Stephanie Grassullo, Contributing Writer
Updated May 13, 2019
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Image: Courtesy HBO

Oops, they did it again. The top-ranking baby names in the US for 2018 look a whole lot like the ones from 2017, according to the Social Security Administration. The agency released its records for the most popular baby names of 2018, where it compiles names from Social Security card applications.

Most Popular Boys’ Names of 2018

1. Liam
2. Noah
4. James
5. Oliver
7. Elijah
8. Lucas
9. Mason
10. Logan

Most Popular Girls’ Names of 2018

1. Emma
2. Olivia
3. Ava
5. Sophia
7. Mia
8. Amelia
9. Harper
10. Evelyn

While the order of names has shuffled around a bit, Lucas is the only top 10 boys’ name to join the club, where it gave Jacob the boot. As far as girls’ names go, Mia and Charlotte switched spots, and Harper has returned to replace Abigail. The real fun, however, begins when you take a deep dive into the names whose popularity have increased or decreased between 2017 and 2018. Spoiler alert—pop culture has a lot to do with it.

Baby Name Trends 2018

Game of Thrones

After a long break, this year marked the return of the eighth and final season of the HBO series Game of Thrones. While the show took a hiatus from airing new episodes, fans’ enthusiasm remained as strong as ever. Last year, a handful of GoT—inspired names spiked in popularity. Most notably, Yara (Yara Greyjoy) went from ranking 986 to a more than 300 jump up to 672. Similarly, Arya (Arya Stark) climbed up a few spots from 135 to 119. The name currently holds the title for the most popular GoT name in the US.

Khaleesi went from 631 to 549. While it’s not necessarily a name of a character, it’s a title associated with the character Daenerys Targaryen, and loosely translates into “queen” in the show’s fictional language of the Dothraki.

Star Wars

Kylo, the antihero of the Star Wars movies, is the fastest-rising boys’ name, according to Social Security statistics. It went from having a ranking of 1,173 in 2017 to 865—a nearly 300-spot jump. Not as steep but still worth pointing out, Rey jumped from 443 to 418 on the girls’ list.

Meghan Mayhem

The world is still recovering from the birth of Meghan Marlke’s first child, Archie Harrison, but before baby Archie was even a thought, all eyes were on Markle and Prince Harry when the pair announced their engagement at the end of 2017. To no surprise at all, the following year was met with a Royal Wedding frenzy, which took place last May. Needless to say, the Duchess’ rise in popularity goes hand-in-hand with the rise in babies who have her name. Meghan jumped all the way from 1,404 to 703.

Super Heroes

It’s not the first time super hero names have jumped the charts, and it certainly won’t be the last. A few monikers with a noticeable increase in popularity include Ivy (Poison Ivy), Everett (Captain America), Odin (Thor) and Walker (Black Scorpion).

Amazon Alexa

For most families, Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa is a staple in every home. But the name stops there. In 2018, it dropped from 65 to 90. It’s a trend we’ve been seeing since the device hit the scene in November 2014. To put it in perspective, in 2015, 6,052 babies shared the name, while last year, only 3,053 newborns were given the namesake.

Click here for a closer look at names with the biggest changes in popularity from 2017 to 2018.

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