Modern Baby Names

Royalty was the hottest name of 2016, moving furthest up the ladder to enter the Top 1000, and is also arguably the trendiest name of the past decade, used a whopping 71 times as often in 2017 as it was ten years earlier. Royalty represents the convergence of two important trends: word names and superlative names such as Legend and King. This is one we'll hear a lot of for a while.

The invented Daleyza was the fastest-rising girls' name in the US in 2013, thanks to the adorable young daughter of Larry Hernandez, star of Larrymania. If you've been out of the world of baby names for a while, you may be surprised to learn that Daleyza is now one of the most popular girl names starting with D.

Depending on how you look at it, a variation of the word name Colt or an abbreviated form of Kolton.

Kyaire was among the fastest-rising boy names of 2023, and a newcomer to the US Top 1000. Rising amongst African American parents, it is speculated that Kyaire was inspired by modern spiritual choice Kyrie, or West African place name Zaire and more directly, by its even higher ranking spelling, Zyaire.

A Puritanical virtue name and also a place name, belonging to the state capital of Rhode Island and several other towns and cities in the US.

Painter is among the most creative choices in this very fashionable category of names, with a particularly pleasant sound. Whereas most occupational names conjure up physical labor, this one feels like a gateway to the arts.

A sweet and simple Quechua choice with an equally pretty meaning.

Corbin joined the US Top 1000 during the latter half of the 20th century, first introduced to parents through actor Corbin Bernsen. It reached a peak in 2014 at number 203 and has been making a steady decline ever since.

This nouveau spelling peaked at Number 583 in 2004. In spite of its trend-making K and "ee" ending, Karlee is much less popular than the original Carly.

Blending the sounds of Bryce, Brian, Riley and Kylie, Bryleigh is a modern invention that ranked in the US Top 1000 from 2010 to 2017, alongside its more popular counterpart, Brylee. Peaking in 2015 when it was given to 320 girls, Bryleigh has since been in decline, pushed out by Brynleigh and Everleigh.

Vanellope is a Disney creation, given to the protagonist of "Wreck it Ralph" and now a character on Sugar Rush. She is energetic, tomboyish and very sassy. Read more about Vanellope and other Disney Princess Names in our featured blog.

As with many other names, the y seems to make this name more girl-appropriate for some parents. About three-quarters of the babies named Austyn are female.

Just when we thought Paisley couldn't get trendier, this -ee suffix showed up. Although it's not our favorite, parents are choosing this spelling more and more often.

One of the new literalist religious names, like Blessing, Heavenly and Neveah. More male than female, but essentially unisex.

Grace, meet Grayson. The stylish classic girls' name Grace -- it's in the Top 20 -- and the trendy boys' name Grayson or Greyson, a member of the Jason-Mason-Cason club, combine to create the girls' name Gracen. For a little girl, we'd stop at Grace.