I was not pleased with how my mom named me.
Jessica just did not seem like enough.
You put in a lot of work to have me and then you named meJessica?
Design by Channing Smith
you could’t blame her for wanting something more unique.
Today it languishes in themid-600sbehind Anne, Madelyn, and Trixie.
(Remember when it seemed likeeveryone onThe Bachelorwas named Lauren?)
A whole new industry has even arrived to meet this demand: baby-name consultancy.
Unsurprisingly, this new field can be tied directly back to TikTok.
I know, everyone’s like, Thats a thing?'
And I’m like, Yes, it is!
They ask, How can we incorporate that into a different name?
A few months ago I worked with somebody who wanted to honor her mom, Wanda.
We came up with Rowan Daliathe last three letters of Rowan areW-A-Nand thenD-Abegins Dalia.
So it’s like Wanda is in the middle.
That was really fun.
Individuality is the biggest trend, says Ficarra.
I keep up with a lot of the consultants on TikTok, says Kihm.
And they have a lot of people searching for something that’s on trend but notthatpopular.
It does skew people’s ideas of what the trending names are right now.
Name popularity is so dependent on social circle too.
So whatarethe cool baby names of 2023?
And what trends will carry over into the next year?
We checked the data and asked several professional baby-name consultants for their answers.
You’ll notice that some names appear on this list multiple times.
And don’t worry: it’s possible for you to always change your mind.
We have a lot of baby-name-change consulting clients, Kihm says.
Parents who come to us and say, I named my babythisand I regret it.
I need your help changing it.
That’s been a big shift since the 20th century.
We’re not seeing that happen with every name anymore.
Charlie is a good example.
It’s still on the rise for boys, but it’s super popular for girls too.
Timm has also seen popular names become more gender-neutral, or at least challenge traditional norms.
And a lot of my clients who are having a girl want something that’s not too flowery.
I’ve had a lot of interest in boy names for girls as well.
Other parents are simply skipping the formal name altogether and just using the nickname, full stop.
Even those who do want a formal name are favoring ones with multiple nickname options.
For boys, Theodore has emerged has a hugely popular option.
Everyone loves names that can be made into like three different nicknames.
With Theodore, people are loving that it’s possible for you to use Teddy or Theo.
The consultants I spoke with have several theories as to why.
For one, just like the nickname trend, there are more unisex names to choose from.
Another: It’s a way to be original without gettingtoowild.
Ficarra has also seen this trend apply to middle names as well.
For girls, Roe/Rowe is up-and-coming, she says.
Morgan Stewart named her daughter Roe.
For boys, soft-sounding names are very attractive right now to my clients, says Slagen.
(But more on that soon.)
I get so many people asking about August, says Timm.
I think Taylor Swift influenced it a little bit.
And you don’t see too many tough-sounding names for girls in the top 20.
Dutton was the fastest-rising boy name of the year.
It took off so much, in fact, that the experts are already seeing fatigue around the trend.
I’m starting to get people in consults who say, Absolutely no country-western names, says Slagen.
So I think it’s starting to feel too trendy to people.
It was a trend beforeYellowstone,but that definitely confirmed it.
We’re seeing more aggressive boy names, says Kihm.
Maverick is one that’s very popular right now.
Decker is rising too.
But traditionally masculine vibes are also becoming hugely popular among baby girl names too.
I just had a client who named her daughter Wesley, Timm says.
Her name was Ashley, and she didn’t feel like people took her seriously in email.
We landed on Wesley.
Kihm says vintage boy names in particular have been rising for girls.
Names like Billie, Frankie, Georgie, and Lenny are big right now.
Not that this is anything new: Vintage names are always in style, says Kihm.
It’s just the nature or the specific vintage names that change.
Florence is getting a lot of attention.
We are loving old-people names for babies, and I think it’s amazing, says Paquette.
Those are my favorite ones.
I always get so excited because we’re seeing names like Pearl, Opal, and Betty.
One-syllable names
The one-syllable names have a very attractive sound to people, says Slagen.
It’s a trend that’s being used for all sexes.
Maeve fits with the shorter, punchier name trend, says Timm.
There are a lot of people who are like, ‘I want a girl name.
I just don’t want it to be a frilly name.
I don’t want it to be flowery.
I want it sound mature, sophisticated, and tough.
People are loving that.
Food-inspired names
TheGrocery Girl aesthetichas taken over fashion and beauty.
Why not baby names too?
And I think we’re going to go in the food direction for girls.
I’ve said this before and people were like, Youre making this up.
But then it was supported by this past year’s data!
We’re seeing a lot of Olives and Clementines.
Boy names that end in -iel are a really big trend specifically among Hispanic and Latin American parents.
We’ve always had nature names, she says.
It’s just which ones are really big right now.
We’re seeing a lot of names that have to do with the sky, like Sole and Cielo.
Names of Greek origin also seem to be in demand.
Gaia is a really cool, strong name, says Paquette.
We’re seeing it on some influencer babiesAmanda Steele had a baby that she named Gaia.
And Atlas has taken off in a way that no one could have anticipated.
It’s a unique name, but I really do see it being high on the list next year.
Kai is a big one, she says.
And we’ve seen rising names like Shai, which is unisex.
Lindsay Lohan named her son Luai.
Anna Moeslein is the deputy editor atGlamourand currently pregnant with twins.
She does not know yet what she’ll name them.
