The Baby Name Trends That Got Away 🏃

Shh! Five bonus trends we’re secretly watching for 2023

I am not a winter person.

As the nights start to draw in and the weather turns wet and windy, I’m already daydreaming about the spring. Green shoots. Sunshine. Not having to take every coat, hat, glove, sweater and rain boot in the house every time we head to the park for an hour. (Gotta love that Great British weather!) 🇬🇧 ☔

It’s also the time when we at Nameberry naturally start thinking about next year’s names. What’s heading up, what’s heading down, what fledgling trends we’re starting to see on people’s lists or in our site statistics that might give a sneak peek at the names that will define the year ahead.

Looking forward is always much more fun than looking back 🔮 Every year, we bounce so many ideas off each other, review visitor data and celebrity trends, share anecdotes and intuitions… Sounds nerdy? It absolutely is.

And, as you might expect, a team of certified name nerds comes up with a whole lot more predictions than the final list of 10 Hot Baby Name Trends for 2023 that we released last month, reported by outlets including HuffPost, People and Scary Mommy.

Here is your special insider look at five more 2023 trends that oh-so-nearly made the cut!

When it comes to baby naming taboos, the goalposts have shifted drastically in recent years. Once-contentious names like Lilith and Maverick are now mainstream, opening the door for even edgier and more controversial choices to creep onto parents’ lists.

We’re entering a new Jazz Age for baby names! Sparky, funky vintage names last popular in the Roaring Twenties are back, but so too are newer names that fit the same offbeat aesthetic. Key features include sharp, staccato sounds and a bright, playful feel.

After decades in style limbo, the hard G sound is cool again. Names containing the energetic “go” sound are particularly hot right now across the style spectrum, from appealing international names to ancient names to modern word and place names.

We get to see a lot of baby name lists as part of our specialist name consulting service. It’s a privileged insight into the names parents are actually considering for babies due in the next few months and beyond. 

Lately, we’ve noticed a widespread shift away from “frillier” girl names with conventionally feminine sounds, and towards sleek, tailored names which still have a strong gender identity.

This gang of up-and-coming nicknames packs a double punch, repeating the same sounds (or very nearly) twice in quick succession. Cute yet feisty and energetic, we’re seeing these more and more as standalone names – perhaps inspired by celebrities like Gigi Hadid and Bebe Rexha.

Readers, what name trends are *you* expecting to see more of in 2023?