Baby Name Wizard author Laura Wattenberg

AIs seem to have their own specific taste in baby names.

The topic for this article literally came to me in a dream. And honestly, I think my unconscious was onto something. bit.ly/NameSpread

Back after a hiatus with an interactive timeline of baby name style: bit.ly/NameTimeline

Hey Vermont, your love of the baby name Oliver is so strong it throws off the scale of the whole map. namerology.com/ultimate-map/

When I declared Elara,—he favorite name of AI—the 2025 Name of the Year, I suggested it could also enter the human name stream. Sure enough, the name just made its debut in the top-1000 list. bit.ly/Elara-Name-o...

The fastest-rising baby name of the year is a legitimate marvel of fashion. bit.ly/RisingNames

The top 10 baby names look pretty traditional—which makes them a wildly misleading snapshot of today's name trends. For perspective, here are the top 10 fastest-RISING names in America, across all popularity levels.

After Watergate, Americans stopped naming babies after newly elected politicians. Now an exception: the name Zohran made its debut in the US name stats last year with 30 babies born. Zohran Mamdani was clearly the spark, but it couldn't have happened without the allure of a brand-new Z name .

The Baby Name Grapher has been updated with brand-new stats. Happy browsing! namerology.com/baby-name-gr...

The new national baby name data is in. Much more analysis to come!

Great legwork to acquire some US middle name data! I'd love to see this sorted by age -- Ann in particular has done a spectacular vanishing act as a first name bit.ly/GoodbyeAnn

Indulge in some decadent depravity with Villainess Baroque style. bit.ly/VillainessBa...

Suddenly enraged that we put paper in a folder to keep it from being folded

Meet Elara, the Name of the Year. She doesn’t exist. Yet she’s everywhere—and she’s all of us. bit.ly/Elara-Name-o...

Take a moment and think about the names that have been on your mind this year. What name feels new, or has changed, or somehow matters more? Like Barack in 2007, or Siri in 2011, or Karen in 2019? What's the 2025 Name of the Year? Please share your ideas (and this post, if you're inclined!)

This Thanksgiving, spare a thought for the baby snuffleupagus

You keep hearing how diverse baby names are today. But three of your friends named their daughters Maya. Here's why. bit.ly/Same-Names

Back from an accidental hiatus with thoughts on our rapidly changing name culture: bit.ly/CrowName

In an age of self-monetization, does sharing a name dilute your personal brand? bit.ly/BradyVsBrady

In 2019-20, even as the name Frank slid out of use, ten American boys were named Frankly. This is frankly astonishing on so many levels.

Looking at names on the brink of disappearing, I noticed a pattern bit.ly/VanishingNames

The D&D series "The Legend of Vox Machina" hit big in the baby name arena. It introduced two brand-new names, Vex'ahlia and Keyleth, and spurred big jumps in the very old names Percival, Percy, Frederick and Archibald.

Three trends in a single baby name: 1. Turning "ing" words into "yn" names 2. Making names out of phrases, not just single words 3. "Bless" as a name root The name: Ablessyn

Of course this is the name of my plane

6 boys were named Beaudi last year. It's pretty clearly meant to be a riff on two popular names: Bodhi spelled like Beau. But I have to think a lot of people will say "beauty."

The deeper you look, the more you find.... bit.ly/NewBoyNames

I have a baby name category I call "notwords." They coincide with English words, but that's not why parents choose them. Past examples have included Craven and Anally. This year, Yam.

There are more Laineys and Theodores than you would have ever imagined.

Last year 6 American boys were named Ripper.

I just wanted to look up the name Keyior, but as soon as I typed in "keyi" the search engine suggested the autocomplete "keying teslas"

The realm of names never stops growing. bit.ly/NewGirlNames

All of the brand-new -LYN names debuting for American girls last year

The interactive NameGrapher is updated with 2024 baby name popularity stats! Come explore--and marvel that Oliver and Olivia have converged namerology.com/baby-name-gr...

From Susan to Messiah, some quick hits on the state of American baby names namerology.com/2025/05/11/5...

A brand-new name in this year's American baby name stats: Grizz, the name of the Memphis Grizzlies' mascot as well as a cartoon bear and a goth/hip-hop musician.

There's zomething going on with boys' names. These were all among the top 25 fasted rising rare names for boys last year. No such pattern for girls.

A look at the top rising names of last year--plus one bonus falling name.

White smoke! There IS new baby name popularity data, and it's looking interesting. namerology.com/2025/05/09/t...

The pope has chosen a trendy baby name. Parents have noticed. bit.ly/Pope-name

A nice look at the Social Security Administration's role in tracking baby name trends (with quotes from yours truly). Today is SUPPOSED to be the day for new SSA name data. Here's hoping this article doesn't turn out to be a historical look back.

So does the Pope have to go to the DMV to get his name changed on his driver’s license or

Hot new baby names are more likely to come from reality tv than Hollywood films today. Could one reason be that Hollywood films no longer introduce new characters? Take a look at the top-grossing domestic films of last year.

Baby names inspired by sports stars come with a unique kind of risk: they can be traded away. bit.ly/name-traded

I once wrote an article about genuinely unique baby names like Siouxniva, Jryxx and Xylatar, predicting that the families would one day find the article in a Google search. I am absolutely delighted that the parents of a young Xylatar stopped by to comment on the article today. bit.ly/EveryName

As the Social Security Administration teeters on the brink, we should brace for the end of national baby name statistics. Aside from being the core of my profession, they’re one of the purest data sources on American culture and how it’s changing.

Today a milk truck painted to look like a giant cow bashed in the side of my car. Hard to even take the damage seriously. Richard Scarry-ass accident.

Fascinated by the wave of Bluesky spambots with names like Brenda, Susan, Vicki and Linda. Somewhere in the world, a troll factory's America setting is stuck on 1954.

Want to predict some name trends with me?

Time for Names of the Year! [ht @babynames.bsky.social] #NOTY fritinancy.substack.com/p/names-of-t...