Starbaby Names
The Huge Impact Celebrities Have on Baby Names
he brightest stars on the newly-released Social Security list of most popular baby names for 2007 are those associated with celebrities, according to the authors of the bestselling name books The Baby Name Bible and Cool Names for Babies.
While Emily and Jacob topped the list again, the big news is the powerful influence of celebrities on baby naming, with star-linked names such as Miley and Scarlett, Evangeline, and even Elvis making the fastest leaps up the charts.
“The names of the stars themselves, the choices they make for their children, and even the names of popular characters are all inspiring parents in a big way,” says Linda Rosenkrantz, coauthor of eight bestselling name guides.
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he most outstanding example of this is the name Miley, which came into being when country singer Billy Ray Cyrus gave it as a nickname to his smiley baby Destiny Hope in 1992; this year it blazed onto the charts at #278, an almost unprecedented phenomenon. “The colossal success of the Hannah Montana star inspired more than 1,200 parents to give her name to their daughters,” says Rosenkrantz.
Equally impressive is the success of the name Kingston, used by rockers Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale for their son in 2006; it showed the biggest spike of any single name on the list, rising a stunning 587 places to number 355, say the authors, who have a website tied to their name books.
Among the Top 20 names, many have celebrity ties. Jayden, the name of Britney Spears’ younger son, made its first appearance in the boys’ Top 20 this year (the name also leapt 31 places for girls), along with Addison on the girls’ side, the name of a popular character on the television show Grey’s Anatomy.
Many of the most popular names for girls connect to glamour girl celebrities of the past, says Rosenkrantz, including Ava (Gardner) at number 4, further popularized by Reese Witherspoon, Heather Locklear, and Hugh Jackman who all used it for their daughters; Sophia (Loren) at number 6; Olivia (de Havilland) at number 7; Elizabeth (Taylor) at number 10; Natalie (Wood) at number 17; Grace (Kelly) at number 20, and Audrey (Hepburn) at 51.
Young female stars are also having an influence, according to the analysis of The Baby Name Bible authors. Hayden is now a hot girl’s name, rising to number 195 from 417, thanks primarily to Hayden Panettiere, the young star of Heroes. Other attractive celebrities inspiring baby namers are Evangeline, as in Evangeline Lilly of Lost, at number 459; Rihanna, number 415, inspired by the Barbados-born singer; Kimora, 364, (Lee Simmons); Scarlett, 219, (Johansson); Keira (Knightly) at 128, and Angelina Jolie, whose last name is also now making strides as a first.
Shiloh, the name of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s young daughter, debuted on the list this year at number 804. Rosenkrantz and coauthor Pamela Redmond Satran were the first to track starbaby names in their book Beyond Jennifer & Jason, published initially by St. Martin’s Press in 1988, and say the phenomenon has taken off in their 20 years of research. Other celebrity baby names influencing real life parents include:
- Hazel, up 104 places to 361, twin daughter of Julia Roberts
- Ryder, the name of Kate Hudson’s young son, up 40 places to 217
- Violet, daughter of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, up 30 spots to 231
Suri, the name of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ newsworthy toddler, is notably absent from the list.
“The child is adorable, but the name Suri may just be too exotic for most parents,” says Satran. “A celebrity link is not a guarantee that a baby name will become a star.”
And some celebrity names are notably sliding down the list. London may be getting hotter as a girls’ name, for example, but Paris is losing ground, down to number 385 from a high of 157 in 2004.
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