Baby Names That Will *Definitely* Shock Grandma

This isn't your mother's baby name list...

Go ahead, ask your parents what they think the most popular names are right now. I did.

She only guessed the names of her friends’ kids

My mom got eight out of ten Top 100 names but glaringly misidentified Taylor, a name that was at the top of the charts when she was naming babies (now in the Top 300 and sharply falling).

Her husband’s guesses were a little more, erm, eclectic:

Honestly, I’m not sure how he came up with some of these.

✅ Emma, Violet, and Harrison!

❌ The rest of these range from the recently-dated (Colby, even Ashley) to the mid-century favorites (Curtis, Stephen) to the so-far-out-they’re-actually-coming-back-around (Fern).

My stepmother gets a lot of credit for identifying (mostly) Top 100 — make that Top 10 — names, with the exception of “some dumb number name” — the highest-ranking number name is Seven, at Number 752.

If we count Teddy as Theodore, this is pretty good

And my dad gave up before he started:

If your parents have a name-obsessed child, they might be wise to some of the names at the top of the charts. But even then, they still might be surprised to hear the newer names that are trending — think Luna and Everly, Bodhi and Crew.

This week on Nameberry, we’re profiling Popular Names Your Mom Never Heard Of. If you plan on using a contemporary classic like Emersyn or Atlas, be prepared for a question or two from your parents.

Here’s what else is happening on Nameberry this week:

New List: 1000+ Names With Many Spellings

Another way to shock your parents: spell their grandchild’s name in a nontraditional way. Or a traditional but lesser used way — will Mom and Dad be able to wrap their minds around that J in Freyja?

Our newest list contains 1000+ Names With Many Spellings — whether you want an alternative spelling to make a vintage name more modern or to put a unique spin on a common name, we have many of them listed here. Search our collection, from Aaliyah and company to Zion et al.

Made Us Laugh

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The Newest Names on Nameberry

1. Can you believe this name wasn’t in our database? Fittingly, we added it on Halloween 🧛🏻‍♂️

2. A Kylie Jenner-inspired choice with serious style 👄

3. Speaking of the Kardashians, could this numerical moniker go mainstream? 🐈‍⬛

4. One of our favorite occupational names (and the best alternative to Sawyer) is now in the database for girls 🪵

5. Nope, not like the city! This place-name homophone gives less Hilton, more sleek surname 🥖

More fun things

• The top baby name influencers of 2023, or, the reason Georgina experienced a popularity surge this year (no, it’s not because it’s a vintage name) ⚽️

• Did you catch Nameberry co-founder Pamela Redmond on NPR’s 1A? Listen to the episode here 🎧

• Our giant collection of food names for cats — I think I’d go with Swiss Miss 🍫