[name]Angela[/name] Mastrodonato, who wrote the recent Nameberry blog post about “illa” names, has an awesome website, called Upswing [name]Baby[/name] Names. It’s really good and you can visit it here: http://upswingbabynames.com/
Getting to the point, on the sidebar of her website I saw an icon that said “Top 22 in 2022”. I downloaded it. It’s an paper (a very long one, too) that really gets into baby name predictions.
I read it when it first came out and even though it doesn’t directly affect me since I live in Australia, some naming trends in [name]America[/name] do cross over here. I think she could be spot on but we’ll just wait and see, shall we?
Thanks for posting this. It’s a fun read! When she was choosing the #1 name, I thought, “What about Henry! It seems like everyone is naming their baby Henry!” and then, lo and behold, she chose Henry out of left field. There are other names that seem less likely: Rylan? Really? I have never even heard of that name. Jaxon? That seems unlikely. Amelia as number 1 also seems like a long shot. But it’s super interesting. I would say her boy names are far more likely to be correct than her girls because, of course, girls names are impossible to predict.
One thing that I think she may be missing is new style trends. She didn’t include the underused classics. This was a conscious choice on her part, but I really think some of the names that get a heavy rotation on this forum could really race up the charts soonish. What’s the new Emma? 20 years ago, Emma was a grandma name. Skipping over Beatrice, Matilda, and Penelope and the like, not to mention Theo, Miles, and Felix, could have been a misstep.
Edit: At the end she says that if she had ranked on her gut instinct, Lucy would be in the top 5. I really hope that doesn’t happen. Lucy is probably my number 1 girl name and girl names are hard for me. It’s a great name so I can hardly grudge people using the name Lucy, but at the same time, I want it all for me!
There are other names that seem less likely: Rylan? Really? I have never even heard of that name. Jaxon? That seems unlikely. Amelia as number 1 also seems like a long shot. But it’s super interesting. I would say her boy names are far more likely to be correct than her girls because, of course, girls names are impossible to predict.