WASHINGTON — Binge-watching was the inspiration for many baby names in
2014, according to a pregnancy and parenting website’s list of the year’s
hottest baby names.
BabyCenter’s 2014 popular baby names list noticed what it called the “Netflix
Effect,” where there was an increase in names that coincide with popular
Netflix shows, such as “House of Cards” and “Orange Is The New Black.”
“House of Cards” names saw an increase in 2014 compared to 2013, including
Frank (up 19 percent), Garrett (up 16 percent), Claire (up 14 percent) and Zoe
(up 13 percent).
“Orange Is The New Black” character names saw a major increase in popularity,
BabyCenter’s list found. Some of the popular names included Galina (up 67
percent), Nicky (up 35 percent), Piper (up 28 percent) and Larry (up 28
percent).
“This is the year of the binge-watching baby name,” Linda Murray, BabyCenter
global editor in chief, said in a news release.
“When you spend 16 hours in
one weekend binge-watching your favorite series, you can’t help but fall in
love with the characters’ names. The correlation between trending baby names
and trending binge-watch shows is undeniable.”
Other pop culture names saw bumps in popularity, too.
There was a 29 percent increase in both Elsa and Duke, characters in
Disney’s “Frozen.” Also, the TV show “Nashville” may have led to an increase
in Avery (up 25 percent) and Deacon (up 22 percent).
Parents may have been hoping for future baseball stars with Derek Jeter-themed
names. Jeter increased 82 percent and Derek increased 4 percent compared to
2013.
Although there were many different influences for baby names in 2014, there
was little change with the top names: Sophia for girls and Jackson for boys.
The two names topped the list in 2013 and Sophia has reigned as
the top girl name for five years in a row.
“This year’s list shows Jackson has staying power and is not a one-hit wonder,
and Sophia is arguably the Jennifer of its generation with five consecutive
number one spots. It’s clearly entered the baby name hall of fame,” Murray
said in a news release.
The BabyCenter list is compiled based on the names of the more than 406,000
babies born in 2014 to moms registered on its website. Also, the list combines
names that sound the same, but have different spellings.
Below is a list of the top girl and boy baby names of 2014
Girls
- Sophia
- Emma
- Olivia
- Ava
- Isabella
- Mia
- Zoe
- Lilly
- Emily
- Madelyn
Boys
- Jackson
- Aiden
- Liam
- Lucas
- Noah
- Mason
- Ethan
- Caden
- Jacob
- Logan
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