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4 surprising pop culture moments inspiring the hottest baby names of 2025

From the Drake vs. Kendrick beef to to the Paris Olympics, here's what shaping the newest wave of baby names.

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More and more parents are using pop culture to find baby name inspiration.

Once upon a time, we essentially only named babies after royalty, religious icons and other members of the family. Maybe a nature-inspired moniker if we were feeling rebellious.

Nowadays, ideas for baby names come from all kinds of places (cemeteries, anyone?) but it’s becoming increasingly common for parents to use these sort of zeitgeist-y pop culture happenings that come and go in an instant, but become immortal snapshots of a particular moment in history. So babies named after these moments also, in their own way, carry a bit of that story taking place when they were born.

Each fall, BabyCenter reveals insights into the baby name trends for the upcoming year based on data gleaned from the literal hundreds of thousands of parents who register their baby's name on the BabyCenter app.

For 2025, here are some of the biggest (and kind of surprising) influences.

Sports moments, including the Paris Olympics, continue to inform baby name trends.

paris olympics, french names, baby names 2025Who doesn't love a french name, though?Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay

The Olympics have left France, but parents-to-be are still tapping into their inner Parisian. Both the boy name Raphael and girl name Louise rose up considerably in rank, as well as Beaux, Remi, Gustavo, Elodie, Arlette and Jolie.

Also, as Women’s basketball continues to set record viewership numbers, names inspired by female basketball players, like Catilin Clark Kamilla Cardoso and A'ja Wilson are gaining popularity.

Similarly, the Super Bowl LVIII becoming the most-watched program in American TV history ignited a wave of Chiefs-themed named like Creed (think Creed Humphrey, a Chiefs center) and Isiah (as in Isiah Pacheco, Chiefs running back)

Travis, as in Kelci, also gained traction. But that could easily be Taylor Swift’s hold on the world, not football’s.

Speaking of pop stars…

Female singers are dominating the charts—and baby names.

sabrina carpent,er chappell roan, billie eillish, girl namesThe pop girlies are taking over. Condé Nast (through Vogue Taiwan), Wikipedia

Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eillish are seeing their first names on the rise. And while thankfully we didn’t see Brat becoming a popular first name, Apple, from a song on the Charlie XCX’s Brat album, did gain favor.

And of course, Taylor’s The Tortured Poet’s Department album helped both Peter and Robin skyrocket as boys’ names.

Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake’s DUI seemingly made the name fall 59 spots in ranking to number 277. Guess the Prince of Pop has lost his crown.

More and more baby names are based on hit television shows

the bear, the bear carmenA picture of Jeremy Allan White as Carmen from The Bear. Wikifandom

Parents are helping their kids get that “main character energy” with names like Riley (inspired by Inside Out), Carmen (from The Bear), Deborah (as in Deborah Vance from HBO’s Hacks) and Ripley…not after Alien. After Netflix's The Talent Mr. Ripley. Which, considering the man is a grifter and murderer, is a bit odd. But Andrew Scott really is that amazing of an actor.

Lastly, Mother Nature herself is helping parents find their newborn’s name

solar eclipseWhen are we gonna see a bunch of kids named Comet? Luc Viatour/Wikipedia

According to BabyCenter, the solar eclipse this past April brought on a rise in the girl name Sol, which is "sun" in Spanish. Even the name Eclipse itself rose 4,421 spots. For boy names, Orion (after the constellation) climbed to No. 301. How fun to say your baby’s name was literally found in the stars.

And that’s that! There were a few other fun tidbits (which you can find here), but this overview gives a pretty solid look into the new human we’ll be welcoming into the world.

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Father has 'unique' idea to give his name to daughter, but mom says it's the 'worst ever'

Honestly, maybe she's right on this one.

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Let's not curse any more children with bad names, shall we?

Some parents have no trouble giving their children perfectly unique, very meaningful names that won’t go on to ruin their adulthood. But others…well…they get an A for effort, but might want to consider hiring a baby name professional.

Things of course get even more complicated when one parent becomes attached to a name that they’re partner finds completely off-putting. It almost always leads to a squabble, because the more one parent is against the name, the more the other parent will go to bat for it.

This seemed to be the case for one soon-to-be mom on the Reddit AITA forum recently. Apparently, she was second-guessing her vehement reaction to her husband’s, ahem, avant garde baby name for their daughter, which she called “the worst name ever.”

But honestly, when you hear this name, I think you’ll agree she was totally in the right.

For context, the couple initially thought they were having a boy and were going to go the traditional route by carrying over the husband’s name. Easy Peasy. Except they were having a girl instead. And here is where our saga begins.

“See, when we first started talking about names, the ‘boy name’ was immediately decided: Stuart Jr., after my husband,” she wrote. “No problem there, it’s a classic name and carries family meaning. But, for a girl, things got murky.”

Apparently the woman’s husband thought he had come up with the perfect solve for their situation. Read on.

“My husband suggested Stuarta,. No, you’re not having a stroke,” she continued. “Apparently, his logic is that since Stuart ends in ‘t,’ we can just add an ‘a’ to make it feminine.”

Sure, okay. Some names can lean feminine or masculine depending on some letter tweaks, like Robert/Roberta, Eric/Erica, Carl/Carla, etc. But I think we can all agree that this trick doesn’t work in all cases. And that was how the wife felt.

“I tried explaining why that doesn’t quite work, how it sounds more like a furniture brand than a human name, how she’d be endlessly correcting people and explaining its origin,” she lamented.

AITA for rejecting the worst name ever for our offspring?
byu/Beginning_Date1924 inAmItheAsshole

But, alas, “He’s adamant though, says it ‘honors’ him while giving our daughter a unique name.”

In trying to respect his wishes, she even suggested some feminine name alternatives that sounded like Stuart, this still honoring his name. But he would not budge.

At a loss, the woman concluded, “I love my husband dearly, and I understand wanting to honor family. But I can’t imagine subjecting our daughter to a lifetime of awkward stares and endless questions about her ‘unusual’ name. I also worry about potential bullying and the impact it could have on her self-esteem.”

She also asked the forum if they had any additional name suggestions, but for goodness sake no other “-ta” names. “The man clearly has a theme, and I need to gently steer him away from it, not fuel the fire!” she joked.

To no one’s surprise, everyone in the comments section thought “Stuarta” was dreadful.

“It sounds like a word your cousin tried to use in Scrabble during the holidays of 1997 just to try and win the game — they didn’t,” one person wrote.

Another added, “Stuarta sounds like a pharmaceutical product. I can hear the commercials now. ‘In some cases, Stuarta can cause headaches, rashes and even death.’ It doesn’t have a decent nickname. And no, adding an ‘a’ doesn't make it feminine in all cases; this is one of them. I’d go for Stuart as a middle name.”

Others felt it unfair that the woman’s husband was so hellbent on being the one honored in the first place—especially if the child is already taking his surname. Others argued that naming a child after a parent, any parent, robs them of their individuality.

“WTF should any child HAVE to be named after him in some way? I get the tradition thing but this is just weird behavior. The name should be about the child, not him alone. It's not only selfish, but arrogant to insist children must be named after him.”

“I always believed that if you want your child to have their own personality, their own name is the best place to start.”

Lastly, folks pointed out that regardless of how adamant the husband is about Stuarta, both parents have to be on board with the baby name: “Remind him that baby names need a yes from both parents or it’s a no. You both need to be able to live with whatever you go with. Even if that means both of you are missing out on the one you want most.” Case closed.

Hopefully the husband comes to his senses and all gets resolved before we have a little Stuarta in the world. But if not, let’s be kind to her regardless.


This article originally appeared on 3.28.24

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Husband asks the world for help after fallout from wife's secret choice of 'horrible' baby name

Choosing your child's name can get really complicated.

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Unique baby names are definitely trendy. But it can backfire.

There’s a fine line between a unique name and one that sets kids up for a lifetime of ridicule.

On the one hand, maybe it shouldn’t matter what other people think, and parents should pick a name that suits their preferences, consequences be damned. On the other hand, their kid might not appreciate that kind of bravery after enduring years of bullying during childhood, followed constant confusion at Starbucks and truly unenviable work emails once they’re adults.

And this chapter of parenting can be a little stressful—even more stressful if neither partner can agree on a name they both like.

This was the case for a husband who absolutely hated a name his wife so eagerly wished to give their unborn son. But rather than follow the popular “one no, two yeses” rule of baby-naming, where both parents must agree on the name chosen for a child, the wife instead went full steam ahead with her idea.

According to the husband’s account on Reddit, here’s what happened:

“Me (25m) and my wife (23f) are having our first child together. She is currently 9 months pregnant and could give birth anytime in the next couple of weeks. The only major fight we have had throughout her pregnancy happened a couple days ago, and it was about what we were going to name our kid.”

AITA for refusing to let my wife name our kid something stupid?
byu/Public-Praline-3691 inAmItheAsshole

“It all started when we found out the gender of the baby,” he continued. “After we found out we were having a boy we sat down together and made a list. Almost all of the names she suggested were normal, until the one that caused me to write this post. She suggested we name our son Mune.”

Mune. Like…dune an “m?” Or like “mun?” “Moon?” “Money?” “Mew-nay?” So many questions.

“She told me the name was from this movie she watched when she was younger and that it always stuck with her,” the husband explained, saying that when he told her it felt a “little out there” and was worried their son might get made fun of.

After a little back and forth, the couple agreed to take the name Mune off the list. Or so the dad-to-be thought.

“Later on in her pregnancy her mom decided to throw a baby shower as it was her first grandchild. It was fine for the most part until we started to open the gifts. Most of them were normal baby things like diapers and bottles, until we got to her mom’s gift. My wife opened the gift bag and pulled out a blue handmade blanket. It seemed normal enough at first until my wife unfolded it and low and behold there was the name Mune written on the blanket,” he wrote.

The man had tried to keep cool until after the party was over. However, when he confronted his wife about it, all hell seemed to break loose.

“She got defensive and told me that it was a good name and that I was overreacting about it,” he concluded. “I brought up the earlier points and told her it was a stupid name for a kid and if she wanted to name something Mune so bad she could use the name for a dog. She got upset and called her mom to come get her. After she left she called me and told me she wouldn’t be coming back for a while. Everyone I’ve talked to about this has said I’m not the asshole, but now that my wife has been gone and I've been thinking about it I feel like I could have handled the situation better.”

Yikes.

parenting, baby names, unique baby names

Parenting is nothing is full of compromises

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While the husband might have regretted his actions, public opinion overwhelmingly sided with him.

One mom wrote, “Naming a baby is a 2 yes or 1 no situation. You do not name a child something your partner does not agree with. You find a compromise. This is the start of many necessary compromises in life and it is a total AH move to unilaterally decide on a child's name despite your partner's misgivings…She is absolutely not mature enough for motherhood if she can not find a reasonable compromise on this.”

Another added “this is a child, not a goldfish. There are consequences and repercussions to choosing a name that is very unusual to begin with.... To go behind the other parent's back and tell a grandparent what the name is going to be, that is unacceptable.”

Others noted how the wife and her mom “pulled a power play,” which “in itself is an a**hole move.” In addition, many pointed out that running away from the conflict (leaving to go to mom’s house) might have not been the best way to handle the situation.

“Leaving so she doesn’t have to face the argument is actually a form of abuse if it happens a lot,” one person commented. “She may just have baby brain and be overreacting due to hormones, but that is red flag behavior of it can’t be dismissed for reasons beyond her control.

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What's ina name? A lot, apparently.

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And if there’s any doubt as to just how damaging "weird" names can be, take it from this person:

“My name has prevented me from doing anything that would have my name called out in a crowd of people. Never tried sports. Military was a no go. I don't even want to apply for higher positions at work because I don't want to have meetings in closed rooms where people might call my name.

“…Being forced to grow up with a weird name discouraged me from a lot of things and I began resenting my parents for thinking they were being creative. I had to live with it through grade school and high school. The ridicule didn't end until the damage was already done.”

Raising a kid together is full of making compromises, prioritizing healthy communication, and honoring commitments, none of which are easy 100 percent of the time. But if couples can’t learn how to navigate these issues, then disagreeing on names is the least of their problems. We can all agree that parenting as true partners means men often need to step up their games. But it takes two for parenting to truly flourish and that includes respect your partner and making choices that are good for the entire family. Together.


This article originally appeared on 10.19.23

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Parents get a wave of support after their family has 'unhinged' reaction to new baby's name

Hoping their family was taking notes.

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Unsolicited opinions aren't just annoying. They can be hurtful.

Sure, parents sometimes make some…interesting choices when it comes to naming their child. But the key word there is choice. It probably should go without saying that it’s not the best move to insert an opinion on something rather personal and vulnerable, especially when that opinion is not requested.

But nonetheless, people do cross this boundary, expressing their disapproval and giving new moms and dads yet another reason to second guess themselves.

As one frustrated mom shared on Reddit, her own in-laws gave what she described as the “most unhinged” reaction to her newborn’s name, leaving her and her husband completely “crushed.”

At first, everything went smoothly.

“I just had a baby this week,” the mom wrote in her post. “We were still in the hospital when we announced her name and got a slew of the usual responses that normal, sane people say when hearing about the name of a baby (‘what a lovely name!’). Because saying anything different is insane, right?”

But then when her husband texted his side of the family to share the newborn daughter’s name, all hell broke loose.

Mind you, these parents didn’t name their child Watermelon Gumdrop or Fern Gully or something else truly out there. The name they chose, which caused them a lot of unnecessary grief, was Rosa.

Not only does Rosa, the Spanish word for “rose,” sound lovely, it carries all poetic meaning symbolized by the flower: hope, love and courage. What’s not to like?

rosa name meaning, baby names 2024

Rosa is a baby girl name of Mexican origin.

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But instead of celebrating their name choice, the mother-in-law apparently responded with ““no, I don’t really like that name. I much prefer Violet.”

“We were stunned,” the woman continued. “I simply cannot imagine being a family member who’s being INFORMED of a newborn’s name, and thinking you should have input…We LOVE our daughter’s name, and did not want to have our first moments with our daughter marred by this comment.”

But wait, it gets worse. The family then called the hospital several times after their texts were ignored. Then the following day, the husband’s sister also sent a barrage of texts with “alternative she prefers”.

Then, when told that the entire family on the mom’s side supported the name, the mother-in-law laughed and said “they must not have good taste- nobody here likes it. Nobody.”

And here is what really shows the effect this appalling behavior really had: “We are sleep deprived. Coming down from an emotional high, during which our daughter was in NICU and I almost needed a blood transfusion because of how much blood I lost. My husband, so stoic and assured, is f**king crushed. I’m FUMING. I will NEVER forget how they made my husband feel during one of the most vulnerable and special times in his life,” the mom wrote.

Most Unhinged Reaction To Naming Your Child?
byu/UWhatMate innamenerds

People who read this woman’s story were “livid” on her behalf, and rallied to give her some support long overdue.

“What on earth is wrong with Rosa???? It’s a beautiful name!! Tell your mother-in-law she is ridiculous and she can shut up immediately, if not sooner,” one person commented.

Another pointed to how truly ridiculous this situation was, writing, ““The name is ROSA? I thought from reading this that it was at least going to be a controversial name. Rosa is beautiful. Even if it’s not your cup of tea, it’s hard to find anything wrong with it. OP should take this as the sign it is and reevaluate their individual relationships with that side of the family.”

Several even suggested going into little-to-no-contact mode with that side of the family, since odds are they wouldn’t prove any more helpful in the stressful postpartum days to come.

“Tell her she doesn’t need to meet baby if she is so insistent on the name being changed,” one person commented.

Sadly, sometimes boundaries must be pushed a little further with those who will not respect more lenient ones. Especially when it comes to family members. And especially when it comes to parents trying to raise their kids in the most healthy environment possible. Hopefully these parents were able to move forward and enjoy welcoming their little Rosa into the world.


This article originally appeared on 12.20.23

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