A new generation of baby names

Posted in Name my baby
by Lorain County Moms

nameberry.com

There’s an entire generation of new baby names that are moving rapidly up the popularity list. They distinguish themselves by being recently minted — and by the fact that grandparents do a double take the first time they hear them. For even if they existed as surnames or place names or occupations, they’ve rarely been used before as first names. Many of these new baby names are morphed versions of names that were used in another form earlier, while others have been spun from thin air.

Some are clearly celebrity-sourced — as when Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale gave their son a name inspired by their own personal associations with the island of Jamaica — and it wasn’t long before the name Kingston jumped onto the list. Similarly, the singular name Miley has spread like wildfire with the fame of its onetime exclusive bearer.

Putting aside the legion of offshoots and variations — in rhyming and spelling — of names related to Riley, Ryan, Bailey, Aiden, Tyler and Tyson, which already seem so 20th century we’ve come up with a list of some of the most prominent nouveau names. Although a precise demarcation can’t be drawn, and some of them were coming onto the radar in the 90s, these are the new baby names that definitely have a 21st century feel.

Girls (mostly)

• ADDISON
• AINSLEY
• ARIA
• ASHBY
• AUDRINA
• CADENCE
• CALI
• ELLE
• HADLEY
• HARLOW
• HAVEN
• KHLOE
• LUNA
• MARLEY
• MILEY
• MYA
• PAISLEY
• REESE
• RHIANNA and RIHANNA
• SAGE
• SIENNA
• SKYLA
• TAYLA
• TEAGAN
• ZOEY

Some other girls’ names that haven’t made it onto the list yet, but are very much headed that way:

• ASHBY
• AVALON
• JUNO
• ESME
• SCOUT
• TALLULAH
• VITA

Boys (mostly)

• ACE
• ATTICUS
• AXEL
• BECKETT
• CAMDEN
• CANNON
• CASE
• CASH
• CHACE
• COHEN
• DASHIELL
• DAX
• DEACON
• FISHER
• JAGGER
• JAX
• JETT
• KIAN and KYAN
• KINGSTON
• KYLAN
• LENNON
• MADDOX
• MAVERICK
• MAXIMUS
• NASH
• ORION
• PAX
• RIVER
• ROMEO
• RYDER
• RYKER
• STONE
• TREVON
• TRACE
• TURNER
• ZANDER and XANDER

Some other boys’ name candidates for the list:

• BODHI
• EVERLY
• FLINT
• JETSON
• ROCKET
• STEEL
• WILDER

Either

• AVERY
• BLAZE
• EASTON
• EMERSON
• EMERY
• HARLEY
• HARPER
• HAYDEN (newer for girls)
• JOURNEY
• JUSTICE
• KAI
• PAYTON/PEYTON
• ROWAN
• SAGE
• SAWYER
• SHILOH
• SKYLAR
• TAJ
• TRACE
• ZION

And some other unisex names in the air:

• AUDEN
• BRIGHTON
• CHARLESTON
• DREAM
• INDIGO
• REEVE
• ROMY
• STORY
• TRUE
• WEST

Nameberry (http://nameberry.com) is a baby-naming site produced by Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz, co-authors of 10 bestselling baby name guides, including the newest, “Beyond Ave and Aiden: The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your Baby.”