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Name popularity in 2026 is a study in contrasts.
When it comes to the Top Tens, the lists are almost boring. Liam and Olivia again? Yes, again.
But the Top 1000 is madly churning, with fast-rising names leaping up the charts. It’s not just one type of name, either. Vintage Winifred, fresh Coast, imported Akari. They’re all sharing the same space.
If there’s any one take-away, I think it’s this: you have permission to choose the names you love.
And that is a good thing.
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ELSEWHERE ONLINE
Laura’s analysis of Ailany’s crazy, stratospheric rise is worth reading. Because this really hasn’t happened before, but I kind of thing it’s going to happen again. Equally fascinating: going through the extended names data for the dozens of ways this name is spelled.
Nancy has the most gender-neutral names from the new list. Iman, Ramsey, Dakota, Blake, and more. It’s not quite what you’d expect, but it demonstrates that unisex names are increasingly mainstream and represent nearly every category of name.
What would you name triplet girls? This couple settled on Hazel quickly, but it took them a while to figure out names for her sisters.
UPDATING & THINKING ABOUT
Jethro enters the US Top 1000. I’m giving credit to the new NCIS prequel about a long-running character’s early days, but this name just plain gets lots of love from name enthusiasts, too.
Laken was at the heart of a viral name moment a dozen years ago – remember chalkboard mom and her daughter Laikynn?
Odette has finally arrived in the US Top 1000, ages after it randomly appeared on a list of hipster baby names and we all got so very excited about it.
That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading and have a great week!
