The United States baby name data-reveal arrived Friday, May 12th. Name writers, consultants, and enthusiasts everywhere are ecstatic! We have a whole new set of names to play with, and it gives us better a chance to predict the end results for the current year. Until next Mother’s Day weekend…
Last week, I published my list of predictions for the 2022 Top 1000. It’s always tricky to determine which names will rise or fall. There simply isn’t enough time in the day to engage with every possible pop culture phenomenon, for one! Names can also be surprisingly erratic and fickle at the bottom of the top. Multiple spellings may dampen the impact of the starter name. Some names fall faster than others, which means a name that isn’t getting more common usage-wise is getting more popular in the ranks. Then, you have all the names that are so close to the Top 1000 that they just, well, reenter! Finally, I didn’t account for the names that were new or returning to the Top 1000 in 2021 that fell out in 2022, since there’s simply little way to know what they’ll do in that scenario!
According to data from the Social Security Administration, the following names reached the Top 1000 most popular baby names in the U.S. in 2022. The bolded names are the names I correctly predicted would either arrive or go; name predictions are never an exact science. Anyways, here are the links for my boys’ names and girls’ names predictions if you’d like to see my thought processes and what didn’t make it!
New Boys’ Names:
Asaiah, Atharv, Aurelio, Cartier, Cedric, Chosen, Crue, Darwin, Dion, Duncan, Dutton, Eren, Ezrah, Imran, Ivaan, Jairo, Jrue, Kaisen, Kaizen, Kamryn, Kanan, Karim, Kayce, Khaza, Koen, Kolson, Kooper, London, Lux, Marlon, Meir, Murphy, Rhodes, Ryatt, Sevyn, Shmuel, Stone, Teo, Terry, Waylen, Westyn, Yael, Yahya, Zen, Zamir
New Girls’ Names:
Aadhya, Amayah, Amiri, Araya, Arlet, Belle, Carla, Casey, Cielo, Elisabeth, Elowyn, Emiliana, Georgina, Inaya, Jream, Keily, Kenia, Lakelyn, Lakelynn, Laylani, Lenora, Lisa, Lottie, Love, Luz, Maddie, Maisy, Marigold, Meilani, Nathalia, Neriah, Nori, Rosalina, Rowyn, Saanvi, Sapphire, Sarahi, Scottie, Sol, Tru, Winona, Wrenlee, Xyla, Yamileth, Yasmin, Zhuri
Some (possible) explanations for the new names:
- Dutton and Kayce are heavily associated with Yellowstone. I believe Kayce is pronounced like “Casey.” Interestingly, Casey is back for girls and Kacey is out for boys.
- Zen, Rhodes, Love, and Nori are celebrity baby names. Now that I think about it, I think Dutton may be too…
- Jrue Holiday is a basketball player who has a daughter named Jrue too.
- Sevyn is a character in The Hate U Give.
- Waylen, Westyn, Ezrah, and Koen are (respectively) used as alternate spellings to the trending names Waylon, Weston, Ezra and Cohen, though Koen is technically a Dutch nickname for Conrad/Koenraad.
- I’m not sure what’s causing the simultaneous popularity of Kaizen and Kaisen, but two things come to mind: a manga/anime called Jujutsu Kaisen and the word kaizen.
- Elowyn is the most common spelling of Elowen, a Cornish nature name that’s been internet popular for years now. Elowen is still technically rare, though it feels a lot more common when you combine all the spelling variants together. 315 girls were named Elowyn, while 211 were named Elowen, and there are more alternates.
- Laylani is a variation of Leilani, a popular Hawaiian name that ranks #59 nationally. Names ending in -Lani are ultratrendy thanks not just to Leilani but Kehlani, a musician’s eponym.
- Maisy, Rowyn, Wrenlee, and Zhuri are variants of Maisie, Rowan, Wrenley, and Zuri.
- Winona was revived by Winona Ryder and her role in Stranger Things.
- Lottie and Scottie are part of a wider trend towards nicknames, though Lottie also has Charlotte’s popularity (#3 in the country!) to thank.
- Marigold was a baby name in Downton Abbey that’s become trendy at just the right time.
Something I do want to note about a few of the names I just mentioned is the potential for offense when used outside of their original cultures (a.k.a. cultural appropriation, which especially impacts historically marginalized peoples). Winona and Leilani are indigenous names (Winona is Native American of Dakota or Sioux origin), while Cohen is a sacred Jewish surname. I personally can’t speak to how people feel about others using the first two names, but as someone converting to Judaism, I can tell you that many Jewish people are deeply offended about the wide non-Jewish use of Cohen, Kohen, and even Koen as baby names. Cohen/Kohen is a priestly title referring to a very specific group of people who sometimes (depending on the religious branch) still have important roles and rules within the community. Some people also consider gentiles naming a child Ezra as cultural appropriation, though I think that has more to do with baby names that are traditional and popular within the Jewish community; compared and contrasted, almost no Jewish person would ever name their own child Cohen.
Here are the names that left the Top 1000:
Exiting Boys’ Names:
Adrien, Aydin, Bishop, Blaine, Bowie, Branson, Carl, Cory, Crosby, Davion, Deandre, Dimitri, Dominik, Elon, Ephraim, Fox, Granger, Graysen, Genesis, Howard, Jabari, Jacoby, Jair, Jakobe, Jamal, Jaxtyn, Jesiah, Juelz, Kace, Kacey, Kamdyn, Karsyn, Kody, Kole, Kristopher, Kyng, Landry, Maurice, Mordechai, Palmer, Ronnie, Turner, Ulises, Yaakov, Yadiel
Exiting Girls’ Names:
Aarna, Aarya, Addisyn, Addyson, Aiyana, Aniya, Austyn, Braylee, Clare, Clarissa, Crystal, Ellen, Ellison, Etta, Frida, Giavanna, Haylee, Ingrid, Jaycee, Jaylee, Jaylene, Jaylin, Kailey, Kaisley, Kathleen, Kiera, Kimora, Kyleigh, Kynlee, Landry, Loyalty, Lyanna, Mazikeen, Meghan, Micah, Nataly, Paisleigh, Paityn, Raquel, Ryder, Sandra, Soraya, Tatiana, Tori, Zoie, Zola
What are some explanations these names leaving the Top 1000? Here are some of my thoughts:
- Kacey is interesting because I actually predicted it to *enter* the Top 1000, but here we see it leaving. The SSA data always changes slightly each year, which lends me to believe either we’re seeing the results of delayed birth certificates or name changes. I’m also surprised it didn’t reach higher in conjunction with Kayce, which is usually pronounced the same assuming a Yellowstone influence.
- Jakobe is coming off a boost in conjunction with Kobe and similar names. Jacoby might also be part of this specific downswing.
- Elon is closely associated with Elon Musk.
- Howard, Maurice, Ingrid, Kathleen, and Sandra are generally considered classics but dated.
- Landry fell out for both boys and girls! A few athletes are named Landry, though I think the main pop culture influence is probably Friday Night Lights, which is several years out since release.
- Mazikeen is a character on Lucifer, which concluded in 2021.
- Lyanna is from Game of Thrones. Some other names from the series actually got more popular in 2022 though, including Khaleesi and Yara. The new spin-off may be influencing some names in the main saga by keeping them fresh. We do know that Rhaenyra entered the SSA birth data for the first time this year!
- Meghan is falling after a brief boost to this and Megan via Meghan Markle.
Do you have any favorite names in this list? Are there any other reasons you can think of why some names rose or fell? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
The Well-Informed Namer 