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Name-inspired news and notes for your Sunday reading.
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I bookmarked an article about Reddit mentions accurately predicting fading baby names and rising baby names ages ago, but just stumbled on it again recently. And I realized: I could easily fact check it.
The article contends that, essentially, more mentions by Reddit users would translate to more actual children with those names.
And it sounds logical, right? Reddit users represent a significant chunk of the American baby-having community.
Except the numbers don’t track. Clara and Audrey both rose in terms of mentions, but only Clara increased in use. Felix got a bounce, while Jonah and Finley both slipped.
As for fading names? Again, the results were mixed. Marshall decreased slightly, but Raphael and River were both up. Amara, Elise, and Amelie rose – that last one by lots.
Plenty of names on both lists – Senna, Odette, Justus, Cedar, Bernie – fail to rank in the US Top 1000 at all.
The take-away?
Names have a crazy long lead time.
For every family that chooses their child’s name in week 38, or while they’re holding a newborn in their arms, there are dozens that settled on a name a year or more ahead of time. Which is one reason why trends are so slippery. We’re all locked in our particular moment, a year or five or ten ahead.
It’s very different than most other decisions we make – and that’s part of what makes trend-watching so fascinating. Anything we see in 2026? The seeds were present in 2016. Even earlier! We revise and edit, but at least some of the time, we make our decisions way in advance – which makes any Reddit-forum-tracking-based prognostications destined to fail.
How far in advance did you choose your children’s names?
ELSEWHERE ONLINE
Let’s make this all Year-Of style news!
Elara is the Name of the Year. Over at Namerology, Laura has announced the annual Name of the Year Contest. Elara points to heavy AI influence, but it’s not coming out of thin air. In fact, Elara has been rising in use. It’s poised just outside of the current US Top 1000. And I just spotted a birth announcement featuring Elara, so … guessing this is one of those Names of the Year that will absolutely translate to more girls answering to the name.
Do you have a favorite celebrity baby name of the year? So many new arrivals in 2025. Aquaman, Rocki Irish, Saga Blade, Fawnie Golden … it’s hard to choose which was the most surprising. One note on Rocki: it’s a feminized form of dad’s (stage) name, A$AP Rocky, as well as his legal name, Rakim Mayers. Which makes it novel and fresh, but also a surprisingly traditional pick.
If I’m a little skeptical of the Reddit approach, I do think Baby Center’s Top 100 names suggest the 2026 data. If only because of the sheer volume of users, searches and page views on sites like Baby Center often reveal trends. So I’m guessing Arthur and Juniper will tip into the overall US Top 100 when we see the May data release. Others, like Kehlani and Malachi, will likely rise in the national rankings, even if they don’t make the very top of the list.
UPDATING & THINKING ABOUT
I’ve always liked cheerful, vintage Clementine, but lately it’s a real favorite. I like the bright punch of citrus and the peaceful vibe.
Mini name Lex has never really trended, even as Max, Jax, and Rex have had their moments.
How about Skipper? This last one is thanks to an influencer’s birth announcement. (Thanks to everyone who sent that one my way.)
That’s all for now. As always, thank you for reading and have a great week!
Several of our kids’ names we chose ahead of time… as in, one of us reads/meets/hears it and asks the other one if it can go on the lists we keep perpetually on my phone.
Only with a few of the kids have we been flying or driving to meet them when we realize we’d better get out the lists because we’ve had no lead time for discussion.
It makes sense that the seeds for names are planted EARLY on! Pete’s Dragon watchers grew up and named their children Elliot and Nora. G.I.Joe cartoons introduced Scarlet to a generation that had never heard of Gone With the Wind. Penny came with The Rescuers, Oliver from Oliver and Company, Milo from Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire… the roll call is long! It makes me wonder what all my grandkids will be named!