Most popular baby names of 2014

December 19, 2014

As this year comes to a close, BabyCenter has released its annual list of most popular baby names. Interestingly, for 2014, the top three names on both the girls’ and boys’ lists are the same as as they were in 2013.

Here goes…

Most popular girl names:
1. Sophia
2. Emma
3. Olivia
4. Ava
5. Isabella
6. Mia
7. Zoe
8. Lily
9. Emily
10. Madelyn

Most popular boy names:
1. Jackson
2. Aiden
3. Liam
4. Lucas
5. Noah
6. Mason
7. Ethan
8. Caden
9. Jacob
10. Logan

BabyCenter also analysed some of the inspirations behind current baby name trends.

Netflix names

Based on the BabyCenter survey, the character names from Orange is the New Black rose in popularity, with Galina up 67 percent, Boo 57 percent, Suzanne 39 percent, and Nicky 35 percent. The names Piper, Larry, and Dayanara also saw a big boost in popularity.

The character names from House of Cards are also rising in the ranks, with Garret jumping 16 percent, Claire up 14 percent, Zoe 13 percent, Remy 11 percent, and Francis up 5 percent. In addition to the name Claire becoming more popular, both Robin and Wright jumped up, 12 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

Shonda Rhimes shows

With Grey’s Anatomy, the name Arizona rose 35 percent, Callie 30 percent, Avery 25 percent, Miranda 15 percent and Owen 14 percent.

Scandal names like Fitzgerald and Huck are up 56 percent and 44 percent, respectively, and Cyrus jumped up 13 percent. The “Scandal” actors are also seeing growths in popularity for their names. Bellamy rose up 28 percent, Scott 25 percent, and both Darby and Guillermo moved up 18 percent. Oddly, Olivia and Kerry have decreased.

Nashville names

Between 2013 and 2014, 16 of 22 character names from Nashville have shown increases in popularity, including Luke (44 percent), Avery (25 percent), Deacon (22 percent), Daphne (15 percent), Gunnar (15 percent) and Scarlett (13 percent). While the name Juliette is on the decline, actress Hayden Panettiere’s name rose 23 percent. BabyCenter also found that “Southern-style names” are also on the rise, with Macon up 29 percent, Virginia 21 percent, Charlotte 19 percent, and Raleigh and Austin up 11 percent.

Frozen names