Last year was filled with baby girl names from the Victorian era such as Emma, Isabella, and Abigail, and baby boy names were taken over by the letter “J” with the most popular names being Jackson, Jacob, Jayden, and Jack. However, the hottest names so far in 2012 are taking a different turn.
Nameberry.com recently released their list of most popular names for the year 2012. The list was formed based on the six million plus views of their individual name pages during the first six months of the year. Many of the names seem to be inspired by nature while also being ironically influenced by some of the hottest icons in pop culture today. Interestingly many of the names can be seen as appropriate for a boy or girl.
1. Senna (girl) or Cinna (boy)
Both names have gained a 1500 percent increase in popularity over last year; do you think “Twilight” and “Hunger Games” have anything to do with that?
2. Niall
Pronounced like the river, Nile, this name has a nature element to it despite also being the name of one of the members of famous British-Irish boy band, One Direction.
3. Arya
The recent popularity of hit series, “Game of Thrones”, where Arya Stark is a young girl who has been separated from her family and is brought up as a boy; has lead to this name rising over 800 percent in popularity from last year.
4. Decimus
Inspired by ancient Rome and “The Hunger Games”, this name is topping all the lists for hottest baby boy names in 2012.
5. Caia
More ancient Rome inspiration for top baby girl names; Caia was the goddess of fire and women.
6. Gatsby
The classic masterpiece of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby, is becoming a name that is all the rage for baby boys. Literary names have become popular since last year when the baby boy name Hadley, inspired by Ernest Hemingway, topped the naming charts.
7. Blue
Possibly due to the popularity of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s name for their daughter, or possibly just another name attributed to the nature connection, Blue is up 600 percent in popularity.
8. Sybil
Sybil Crawley, political activist and nurse to the wounded soldiers at Downton Abbey, has restored the image of this name, despite its somewhat negative reputation in the past.
9. Calix
A male name taken from its female counterparts, Calista and Callie; Calix is also a Greek name that means beautiful.
10. Halcyon
Nature is back once again to inspire this unisex name trending after a mythical kingfisher bird that had powers to calm the seas.
11. Django
In spite of the upcoming Quentin Tarantino movie which features a lead character named Django, this name is also inspired by a Belgian jazz guitarist whose nickname, Django, means “I awake”.
12. Nova
Meaning “new”, Nova is currently all the rage along with other celestial names such as Luna and Aurora.
13. Theon
Remembered as a Greek teacher of mathematics and astronomy, the name Theon has ancient roots in addition to being a famous name from the George R. R. Martin books and hit series, Game of Thrones.
