Expecting? 51 Baby Names that Trended in 2018

At the start of the year, “baby name” experts predicted the names that would trend in 2018. But now that we’re nearing the end of 2018, it’s time to actually see which ones were loved by a majority of parents (at least in the United States). BabyCenter analyzed data from more than 742,000 parents who shared their baby’s name with the website in 2018 and found similar trends among the users. If you’re expecting, you might find inspiration from these trending baby names.

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Most popular names for girls and boys

For the ninth consecutive year, (1) Sophia is still the top choice for girls, while (2) Jackson is the most popular name for boys, and has been so for six years now.

Among the top 10 for girls are (3) Olivia, (4) Emma, (5) Ava, (6) Isabella, (7) Aria, (8) Riley, (9) Amelia, (10) Mia, and (11) Layla. For boys, it’s (12) Liam, (13) Noah, (14) Aiden, (15) Caden, (16) Grayson, (17) Lucas, (18) Mason, (19) Oliver, and (20) Elijah.

Zen names

A number of new parents this year were inspired by names that were connected to spiritual practices like meditation, mindfulness, and yoga. Baby girls were commonly named (21) Peace, (22) Harmony, and (23) Hope. (24) Shanti, which means peace in Sanskrit, was a popular choice for boys.

Names that were connected to the natural world were also popular. (25) Dawn, (26) Aurora, and (27) Rainbow climbed Baby Center’s chart of most popular names for girls. (28) Ocean, (29) Fern, and (30) Sky, also rose in the ranks for boys.

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Game-inspired

The online multiplayer game Fortnite is so popular that a lot of parents were inspired to name their babies after it. (31) Ramirez, a playable character in the game, became a popular name for boys (although the character is a female soldier in Fortnite). (32) Leviathan, (33) Bunny, and (34) Rogue, which are all costumes for players, also became popular names for both girls and boys.

A professional player going by the name Dakotaz seems to have influenced parent-gamers as the name (35) Dakota rose in the charts, for both girls and boys, too.

Baby Kardashians

The Kardashian and Jenner clan prove their worth as influencers — (36) Stormi, the name of Kylie Jenner’s daughter, jumped 63% in the charts, while (37) Dream, the name of Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna’s daughter rose 42%. Fancy naming your kids (38) Nori, the nickname of Kim Kardashian’s daughter North? That name rose in the charts, too.

For the boys, Kim and Kanye’s son (39) Saint, and (40) Reign, the name of Kourtney Kardashian’s third child, all ranked higher in the charts than they did last year.

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Tasty baby names

Would you name your kids after food? It seems like a lot of parents did this year — naming your baby after healthy food is a trend for 2018. For girls, the top choices were (41) Kale, (42) Kiwi, (43) Maple, and (44) Clementine.

Early this year, experts predicted that baby names inspired by plants will become a trend. By year-end, a lot of new parents actually named their boys and girls after herbs and spices. (45) Saffron, (46) Rosemary, and (47) Sage were on the rise.

American TV influence

Chip and Joanna Gaines became popular in the U.S. for their hit TV show Fixer Upper, which involved renovating dilapidated houses into beautiful homes. So, it’s no surprise that their baby’s names trended in 2018. Whether you follow their show or not, you may like the names (48) Emmie, and (49) Ella for girls. For boys, there’s (50) Drake and (51) Crew.

Want more baby names? Find inspiration here and here.

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