This week on the blog, [name_f]Pam[/name_f] has been looking at names that have peaked, the ones that have had a moment and now seem destined to fall back down the charts.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] any names on the list surprise you?
Are there any you think might recover and peak again in the future?
Are there any not mentioned that you can see fading fast?
Are there any names you wish would peak, either either because you’re tired of seeing them or because you love them and seriously wish everyone else would stop getting there first!
Any other thoughts on why names peak and fall welcome too!
I think the ones that surprise me the most are [name_f]Octavia[/name_f], [name_m]Rhett[/name_m], & [name_m]Wilder[/name_m]. I feel like I hear these on birth announcements or being talked about by expecting/ttc parents more so now than ever, so that was definitely a surprise. [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], [name_m]Alaric[/name_m], [name_f]Camilla[/name_f], and [name_m]Odin[/name_m] are a little less surprising as I know they were popular a few years ago and I definitely don’t see the “hype” of them as often now, but I can more easily seeing them recover than the first three; [name_f]Octavia[/name_f] was always an odd climber to me (and I like the name) and I feel like the western/cowboy/country boys name trend is dying down so the names most used from that genre of names like [name_m]Rhett[/name_m], [name_m]Wilder[/name_m], [name_m]Zayne[/name_m], [name_m]Ford[/name_m], [name_m]Wesson[/name_m], McCoy, [name_m]Ryder[/name_m], [name_m]Ryker[/name_m], [name_m]Remington[/name_m], [name_m]Wyatt[/name_m], [name_m]Sawyer[/name_m], ect. do seem to slowly be fizzling out
I think Atticus is one that surprised me - it doesn’t feel like it’s quite had its moment yet, and feels literary and still fresh enough that it might bounce back. And Saoirse! Maybe it’s a UK-perspective but not sure it’s quite set to fall.
I wonder whether Zion, Zyon, Maverick, Raelyn/n, and Emersyn/on have had their time?
Yes! Octavia and Wilder made me wonder too - and Rhett feels recently back in style too!
and that’s a good point about Sawyer, Wyatt, Ryder etc - I do feel they’ve been less hyped recently.
[name_f]Octavia[/name_f], [name_f]Maren[/name_f], [name_m]Ford[/name_m], & [name_m]Finnegan[/name_m] were most surprising for me – maybe because they’re so present here on Nameberry that they feel more relevant than they really are? The quickly falling -ley names (Kinsley, [name_f]Tinley[/name_f], etc.) don’t surprise me at all, because they were definitely very trendy… and I will admit I’m not sad to see them go. On the other hand, I was actually a big fan of the [name_m]Elliott[/name_m] / [name_m]Ellis[/name_m] (g) popularity, and I’m frankly shocked that it’s fading so quickly!
I can see [name_f]Camilla[/name_f] & [name_m]Niko[/name_m] reviving, just because they don’t seem to have as much of a quick peak as the others – [name_f]Camilla[/name_f] has been at a steady incline since the 70s, and [name_m]Niko[/name_m] since the early 2000s. Others I can see fading fast include [name_f]Athena[/name_f] and [name_m]Maverick[/name_m], which I’ve seen a lot of lately.
I think that’s a good point - it is interesting to consider ‘real world’ popularity vs. nameberry forum popularity!
I’m surprised by [name_m]Ellis[/name_m] too - it feels enough like [name_f]Elise[/name_f], [name_f]Elsie[/name_f] and [name_f]Elisabeth[/name_f] that it could have stuck
[name_m]Maverick[/name_m] was one I thought of too - I’m intrigued to see how it fares in the next few years
Surprised by [name_f]Octavia[/name_f], [name_f]Saoirse[/name_f], [name_m]Finnegan[/name_m], [name_m]Wilder[/name_m], and [name_m]Phoenix[/name_m]. I thought all of those were rising. Those are the ones I most think could peak again soon.
I expect to see [name_f]Paisley[/name_f], [name_f]Sutton[/name_f], [name_f]Arya[/name_f] (but not Aria), and Seven/all alternate spellings of [name_m]Seven[/name_m] on that list very soon.
I hope [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_f]Aria[/name_f], [name_f]Aurora[/name_f], and [name_f]Stella[/name_f] aren’t going to get too much higher, I really like those names and would use them in real life. The popularity wouldn’t stop me necessarily, but it would be nice to have a [name_m]Leo[/name_m] and not a [name_m]Leo[/name_m] B.
Was surprised by [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] but looking at the graphs, it looks like it’s a slow decline so I don’t think it will fall sharply. It looks like it will probably stay where it’s at or possibly even pick back up since it’s still showing to be at the top of the nameberry popularity charts. I also like to think [name_m]Alaric[/name_m], [name_m]Declan[/name_m], [name_m]Wilder[/name_m], [name_m]Remington[/name_m], [name_m]Niko[/name_m], and [name_m]Finnegan[/name_m] won’t drop too much but we’ll see
Was also surprised by [name_f]Octavia[/name_f] but thats because I actually wasn’t aware she was trending as much as she was. I thought the hype was just on nb since I don’t know anyone with this name. Looking at her chart now, I see the fall actually is kind of expected seeing how fast she shot up. I can see her falling to the 5-600s and hold steady there though.
For [name_f]Saoirse[/name_f], I haven’t looked at her UK charts but I’d imagine she will be fine there, especially in [name_f]Ireland[/name_f].
A lot of the rest of the names look like they’re trendy spelling variations, has trendy sounds (ex -ianna), was jumping on the boy on girl trend or was a country boy trend so they don’t really surprise me even if I do like some of them. For some of them, I think their other spelling variants and rank on the original gender are probably doing fine. There’s also some names that looked like they just entered the charts so I didn’t realize they were trending yet.
Since [name_f]Athena[/name_f] was mentioned, I had been hoping she didn’t get any more popular after she started ranking in the 100s but I wonder if people already see her as a trendy name since it shot up from 455 to 117 in just 10 years. Not a total deal breaker, just disappointing and seems weird that it was only ranking at about 500 when I discovered it and then felt like it shot up out of nowhere.
Ignore me swapping btwn “it” and gendered pronouns haha idk why I did that
I can see [name_f]Sutton[/name_f], [name_f]Arya[/name_f], and [name_m]Seven[/name_m] peaking soon too - and [name_f]Khaleesi[/name_f] too.
[name_f]Aurora[/name_f] too feels like one that might suddenly start declining, but I’m less sure on [name_m]Leo[/name_m]. It’s been in the top 10 where I am for a few years now and I’m not sure people are ready to let it go yet I’m afraid!
@KaiLun Totally get what you mean about [name_f]Octavia[/name_f] - I’ve met two adult Octavias but no little ones!
[name_f]Saoirse[/name_f] does have a fairly stable presence here in the UK - and [name_f]Ireland[/name_f] - so maybe it is a US thing that it will decline.
That’s a good point too - and maybe it feels more trendy/popular that it actually is, thanks to its visual and sound similarities to [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Aurora[/name_f], [name_f]Alanna[/name_f], -lena names, [name_f]Valentina[/name_f], [name_f]Thea[/name_f] etc.
In particular I adore [name_f]Maren[/name_f] , Atticus,ford, wilder out of these.
I see [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], [name_m]Ford[/name_m], [name_m]Wilder[/name_m] mentioned a lot can see them still rising in popularity. I think alot of people like the name [name_f]Maren[/name_f] so not sure how popularity will go
I think the most surprising is Octavia, for the girls names- it’s so lovely and I’ve never met someone with the name before
Also, Winter, I would’ve thought it’d get more popular because it’s pretty and alternative to Summer or Autumn, and would still raise some eyebrows (in my area mainly)
For the boys, Jackson surprised me in a way, but I can imagine it’s peaked due to how incredibly popular it was. Huxley surprised me, as I thought it was an up and coming popular name (I could be very wrong). Also, Wilder surprised me too, since I hear it so much on favourite name lists and things. Declan, surprised me too; it’s usually a name that many people have on their name lists too (perhaps just in my area, I’m not sure?) so that surprised me because it’s similar to a go to name in my head, like Oliver or George.
Overall, I think the boys names surprised me more so than the girls’
I hope that helps, have a lovely day 🩷
