[name_m]Hi[/name_m] berries! I’m sure you’ve seen the brand new list of US Top [name_u]Baby[/name_u] Names 2021. We’d love to hear your reactions! [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] in the Top 10 – proud or disappointed? What else surprises, thrills, dismays you?
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I really love to see [name_u]Angel[/name_u] in the top 100 for boys, it’s so great. [name_m]Waylon[/name_m] has never hit my radar and it is in the top 100 which I think is cool. I am surprised by [name_f]Gianna[/name_f] and [name_f]Camila[/name_f] being so high in the rankings for the girls, although they are beautiful names, and that [name_f]Serenity[/name_f] is in the top 100! Some spelling variations mostly for girls names I wouldn’t expect to be so popular, in the top 200, too.
athena entering the top 100 is WILD to me! how cool is that?? but i’m gonna have to do a more thorough look before i can say anything else 
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[name_u]New[/name_u] names in the top 1000 that surprised me:
[name_m]Evander[/name_m]
[name_m]Benedict[/name_m]
[name_m]Ephraim[/name_m]
[name_u]Vida[/name_u]
[name_u]Ocean[/name_u] (g)
[name_f]Clover[/name_f]
[name_f]Soleil[/name_f]
[name_f]Goldie[/name_f]
[name_u]Indigo[/name_u] (g)
[name_f]Birdie[/name_f]
[name_f]Eleanora[/name_f]
[name_u]Billie[/name_u] (g)
[name_f]Guinevere[/name_f]
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I’m definitely going to have to take some more looks today at the new data, especially the new names that entered!
[name_m]Theodore[/name_m] hitting the top 10 was really interesting to see!
Top 100
[name_m]Theodore[/name_m] and [name_u]Benjamin[/name_u], along with a few other names like [name_m]Ian[/name_m] or [name_m]Roman[/name_m], were very surprising to me. [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] had it coming since a long time but I would’ve expected [name_u]Benjamin[/name_u] to rank lower than it did. [name_m]Ian[/name_m] and [name_m]Roman[/name_m] aren’t names that I have seen people using, neither are [name_u]Julian[/name_u] and [name_u]Axel[/name_u]. Those names were the most surprising for me.
I’m saddened to see [name_f]Delilah[/name_f], [name_u]Piper[/name_u], [name_f]Adeline[/name_f], [name_f]Athena[/name_f] and [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] enter the Top 100 in the USA. I don’t keep up with the SSA lists but I know some names have been popular since a long time, like [name_f]Aurora[/name_f]. I love these names and even though I have no connections to the US, it’s still very astonishing. [name_f]Kinda[/name_f] wondering why [name_f]Neveah[/name_f] is still in the Top 100.
Top 1000
I see [name_m]Atharv[/name_m], [name_u]Khai[/name_u] and [name_m]Leif[/name_m] have taken their spots in the Top 1000 as have [name_u]Kartier[/name_u], [name_m]Yadiel[/name_m], [name_u]Neo[/name_u], [name_m]Ignacio[/name_m], [name_m]Salvatore[/name_m], [name_u]Dior[/name_u], [name_u]Thaddeus[/name_u], [name_m]Lochlan[/name_m], [name_u]Loyal[/name_u], [name_u]Justice[/name_u], [name_m]Leonidas[/name_m], [name_u]Armani[/name_u], [name_u]Killian[/name_u], [name_m]Romeo[/name_m], [name_m]Ronan[/name_m] and [name_u]Elon[/name_u]. [name_u]Justice[/name_u] might be my new favourite word name for boys. I love that people are finally branching out to new names for boys. I am seeing a lot of [name_m]Cillian[/name_m] these days, I don’t know if that is good or bad 
I’m not surprised by any of those though.
[name_f]Soleil[/name_f], [name_f]Araceli[/name_f], [name_f]Brittany[/name_f], [name_u]Amaris[/name_u], [name_f]Emerald[/name_f], [name_u]Indigo[/name_u], [name_f]Princess[/name_f] (??), [name_f]Marisol[/name_f], [name_f]Zendaya[/name_f], [name_f]Angelique[/name_f], [name_u]Artemis[/name_u], [name_f]Clover[/name_f], [name_f]Tiffany[/name_f], [name_f]Linda[/name_f], [name_u]Royal[/name_u], [name_f]Dulce[/name_f], [name_f]Chanel[/name_f], [name_f]Saoirse[/name_f], [name_u]Cleo[/name_u], [name_f]Persephone[/name_f], [name_f]Mavis[/name_f], [name_u]Halo[/name_u], [name_u]Promise[/name_u], [name_u]Justice[/name_u], [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f], [name_f]Astrid[/name_f], [name_u]Legacy[/name_u], [name_u]Dream[/name_u], [name_u]Lauren[/name_u], [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f], [name_f]Celeste[/name_f], [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] and [name_f]Lilith[/name_f] were unexpected. I am so glad [name_f]Emerald[/name_f], [name_u]Artemis[/name_u], [name_f]Clover[/name_f], [name_u]Cleo[/name_u], [name_f]Persephone[/name_f], [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f], [name_f]Celeste[/name_f] and [name_f]Lilith[/name_f] are getting recognition. Others like [name_f]Linda[/name_f], [name_f]Tiffany[/name_f], [name_u]Lauren[/name_u], [name_f]Princess[/name_f], [name_f]Brittany[/name_f] and [name_f]Chanel[/name_f] are giving Y2K to me. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you think Y2K names may make a resurgence (or they already have) with the recent trends?
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f], [name_f]Opal[/name_f], [name_f]Anya[/name_f] and [name_u]Briar[/name_u] are near the Top 500 so we may see a rise in popularity in the following years. [name_f]Amelie[/name_f] and [name_f]Theodora[/name_f] rank so low at #831 and #732 respectively. [name_f]Khaleesi[/name_f] ranks higher than Florence?!
A lot of -den and -leigh names remain. I thought we let go of them a few years ago.
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The popularity of [name_m]Jeremiah[/name_m] and [name_f]Camila[/name_f] surprises me.
Some thoughts:
- [name_u]Murphy[/name_u], which (As far as I remember) entered the Top 1000 for both boys and girls in 2020, now jumped to #716 for girls but dropped off the boy’s list (Where it initially ranked higher than the girls)
- [name_u]Elon[/name_u] entered
- [name_f]Elisabeth[/name_f] dropped out again - A shame (Maybe not), I really like this spelling
- Also pleasantly surprised to see [name_f]Guinevere[/name_f] enter! Didn’t see that one coming
- [name_f]Arleth[/name_f] and [name_m]Atharv[/name_m] entered, both intriguing names
- [name_f]Flora[/name_f] rose an impressive 278 spots
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I have lots of opinions, but for now I’ll just say that it was disappointing how little the top 10s changed. I also love the name Cedric, so it was weird to see it leave the top 1,000. The fact that Raya shot up as much as it did shows the sway that Disney and the media in general have over people. Karen left the top 1,000… not surprising.
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Yeah, there’s so much to dissect. And of course, we’ll be covering this all month from lots of different angles. [name_f]Sophie[/name_f] and I have been parsing the fastest rising names and will be adding more to the post on that over the next few hours.
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[name_m]Theodore[/name_m] jumping in to the Top 10 was really exciting to see! I wish the Top 10 for both boys and girls had changed a bit more though…
I found that a lot of my favorite boy names rose dramatically, like [name_u]Rio[/name_u] & [name_u]Rome[/name_u], the former being a celebrity baby name.
It was especially disheartening to see [name_m]Evander[/name_m] & [name_u]Vida[/name_u] (g) enter the Top 1,000! [name_u]Vida[/name_u] was recently just used by a celebrity, so I had a feeling that would happen. On the other hand, [name_f]Salma[/name_f], [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f], & [name_u]Indigo[/name_u] entering was pretty cool.
[name_f]Isabella[/name_f] holding on to her #7 spot is surprising to me, but I believe in the next 2 or 3 years we will see [name_f]Isla[/name_f] & [name_f]Luna[/name_f] in the Top 10 instead.
I tend not to pay too much attention to much more than the Top Ten in terms of names being considered popular. I was shocked [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] actually made it!! I’ve heard it being used more frequently “on the ground” but it actually being in the Top 10 was surprising!
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I couldn’t believe that Theodore entered. I’m proud of him as I’m not as attached as some berries. I was sad to see Sylvie rise like 200 places but I knew it was going to happen. How did Ariana get in the top 100? I thought people were over her.
I was sad to see Cassian, Evander, Birdie, Clover, Flora, Goldie, Guinevere, and Indigo rise so high, but they deserved it.
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[name_m]Theodore[/name_m] being in the tops ten makes me want to cry 
(not happy tears lol)
[name_f]My[/name_f] condolences to the [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] fans for whom it’s now too popular 
I was surprised to see [name_f]Birdie[/name_f] and [name_u]Billie[/name_u] enter the top 1000! On the boys’ side, [name_u]Bellamy[/name_u] rose over 100 spots! [name_m]Bruno[/name_m] is also on the rise, and I think it’ll continue to rise this year because of Encanto. Also [name_m]Ozzy[/name_m] is now at 712?! It seems like a lot of names have changed, I can’t wait to see all the posts about the new data!
Some disorganized thoughts:
[name_f]Susanna[/name_f] still not being top 1000 makes me question our nation’s taste… Not surprised that [name_f]Flora[/name_f] (NB darling, rhymes with [name_f]Cora[/name_f] and co.) has risen 278 places. Shocked that [name_u]Howard[/name_u] rose 101 to crack top 1000! [name_u]Howard[/name_u] is still 70 y/o in my mind. I actually somewhat like it when names I like rise! More usage for [name_f]Estelle[/name_f], [name_f]Colette[/name_f], [name_m]Benedict[/name_m], [name_f]Annalise[/name_f], and my beloved Bridget!! It means the public has good taste. That said, if I want to use them myself, I’m less amused when they start cracking top 100.
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[name_f]My[/name_f] husband’s cousin has three of her four children in the top 20, which surprises me as I thought the names were more on the uncommon side! Still, we are in Australia so they might be.
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I think anything beyond the Top 200/300 is really not of much importance when considering how many babies are born each year and how few of them receive those names. Yes, 500 babies with one name might sound a lot but considering that 2 million babies are born each year in the US, those 500 really are a drop in the ocean. I think part of the “oh no, my favourite name rose in the ranks, it’s now 600 rather than 735” can partially be attributed to people not being able to picture what 2 million people would look like, so 500 kids with one name feels a lot. However, statistically it’s 1 in 4000 babies with that name, and who really gets to meet that many people?
As for the names themselves, some surprises me, like [name_f]Athena[/name_f], but I’m not in the US so I’m not sure if they really would be surprising to someone living there.
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Theodore’s new spot doesn’t surprise me at all, but I’m not a fan so I don’t particularly feel any way about it. [name_m]Odin[/name_m] and Athena’s rising popularity is lovely to see.
[name_m]Santiago[/name_m] feels surprising to me. I rarely see him mentioned. And [name_u]Judah[/name_u] in the top 200! 
[name_m]Brantley[/name_m] in the top 300 — honestly, didn’t even know that was a name. And I can’t say I understand why it is.
And [name_u]Harry[/name_u]! [name_u]Harry[/name_u], a name that feels common, is much less popular than names that feel uncommon. I do love [name_u]Harry[/name_u].
I’m proud of [name_m]Theodore[/name_m]! It’s one of the classics I’m always happy to hear. I’m surprised by:
- Elliot/Elliott falling in popularity for girls, seems like it should still be on trend!
- [name_f]Raya[/name_f] being the fasting rising name for girls. Obviously there is the Disney movie but I didn’t think it was that popular
- In contrast, I thought [name_f]Mirabel[/name_f] would make the top 1,000 due to Encanto but maybe it will in 2022
- I am thrilled to see [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] rise so much, it’s a great name and I think Bridgerton has helped it shake the Scooby Doo association
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