Baby Names – What’s Popular & Unpopular in 2016?

Choosing a name for a child is a very important job and one that should be taken very seriously. This is something they are going to take around with them through their whole life (unless of course they hate it so much they legally change it when they are older!) They will hear it multiple times every day, have to write it down, type it out, it will be a massive part of their identity.

Working in early childhood, I have heard a few doozies. Both names that I have loved and names that I haven’t liked so much. The thing with choosing a name is that it is such a personal decision, and that is fantastic. We wouldn’t want to live in a society where we were called Jane69856 or Jack5698334 as those were the only options available! We all want to give our children the best name possible, but there are so many factors to consider before you get to the final name:

Do you and your partner both love it?

Do you know anyone else who has a child with the same name already?

Do you love unique names or spellings?

Do you like traditional names?

Do you want to pick a popular name and run the risk of their being 4 other children with the same name in their class?

Do you want a name that means something to your family?

Do you want to name your child after someone?

Are you totally against a particular name because you knew someone awful with the same name?

So, so, so, so many things to think about!

To help you in your decision, we have put together some information on the current popular and unpopular baby names trending currently.

The Most Popular Name in the World in 2015

The numbers have been calculated and this name is number one in 9 countries! In another 20 countries (including the USA) it is ranked second or third. It is in the top 25 names in two thirds of the countries that track baby name statistics! It is worth mentioning here that countries such as China, India and Brazil either do not track or release the information on their popular names, so the data is mostly made up from the Western World.

Without further ado, drum roll please. The most popular name in the world is… SOFIA (or its local derivatives like Sophia/Zsofia).

Sofia is of Greek origin and means ‘wisdom’. Experts are saying that it’s meteoric rise to glory is relatively unexplained as there is no major celebrity or character that it stems from. Just two decades ago the name barely registered on top baby name rankings.

The question is, will Sofia remain at the top? With the desire to have your own child be unique people may choose to avoid these incredibly popular names. Perhaps Sofia has had her day and it’s time for a new name to take over. Who knows what it will be!

The Most Unpopular Names of 2015

The British baby naming website BabyCentre have released information on the names that are most in decline. It is hard to say whether these names will die out completely or if they will have a revival with parents choosing them in favour of the more popular choices so that their child’s name can be unique.

Britain’s most unpopular female names are…

So, if you don’t want your child having to deal with having someone in their class with the same name you may consider Doris or Horace!

It’s a shame there seems to be no way of tracking the world’s most unpopular name!

Name Trends for 2016

According to the experts at BabyCentre unique names are going to be in for 2016, as well as a revival of some of the older more traditional names. You never know, you might just see little Doris or Horace at the Maternity Ward!

Here are some of the names they are predicting will make an appearance. I am not sure that any of these names will make it to the top of the most popular lists, but definitely some options to consider when choosing your little one’s moniker! There seems to be a lot of inspiration from Games of Thrones, The Hobbit and other books, movies and TV shows. The information for this list is based on searches that have been conducted on their website.

Here are the girls…

So there you go, we have now armed you with all facts on the popular and unpopular names of 2015 and what that might mean for 2016!

Is your name or your little one’s name on any of these lists? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook of Instagram pages. We would love to see a snap of you cute little one if one of their names is listed above, hashtag it with #babyviewpics so we can find it!

Sources:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/baby/73885462/The-most-popular-baby-name-in-the-world-right-now
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/baby/78174470/the-most-unpopular-baby-names-of-the-year
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/baby/73773889/hot-baby-name-trends-for-2016

 
Gemma is a kiwi Mum of one and is the Editor for The Baby View. She also works with preschool children, loves cooking, loves sunshine, loves chocolate and loses countless hours at a time looking at cute baby pictures on Instagram!