Aiden, Ava and iGo: A Look at Naming Trends

The Social Security Administration recently released its annual list of the previous year’s most popular baby names. While the top 10 names for both boys and girls changed little from 2009, the fastest rising and falling names illustrate some interesting naming trends.

For example, this year’s fastest-rising name was Maci. If you are a dedicated consumer of the very worst reality TV shows like I am, you will recognize Maci as the name of one of the young mothers from Teen Mom. Other reality TV-inspired monikers include Bentley (Maci’s son) and Khloe (one of the Kardashian brood).

Other factors beyond the sad state of our culture help explain why some names are suddenly popular. Take Khloe. Beyond its association with Lamar Odom’s wife, it reflects another naming trend: names with vowels galore. Ava, Olivia, Noah and Sophia all have copious, strong vowels; names like Gladys and Lloyd feature long strings of consonants and are much less frequently bestowed upon cute little bundles of joy.

Brand names, like baby names, follow trends. Lowercase names became popular in the 1990s and have remained a popular option, especially for tech companies, ever since. The iMac and iPod triggered a rash of “i-something” names, but just as Jennifer and Tiffany dramatically dropped in popularity after at least three of each could be found in every classroom, “i-something” names fell out of favor once they tattooed every other letterhead and business card.

For both baby names and brand names, the key is a balance of fresh and familiar. Too familiar, and you’ll become Jennifer C. Too fresh, and you’ll have masses of consumers confused on how to pronounce your out-there name.

If you’d like some more information on last year’s crop of baby names, check out this awesome Slate article. For more information on classic yet creative brand names, contact us.