Choosing a name for your child can be a daunting task.
Some parents like traditional names, while others prefer more unusual monikers.
The final choice is up to you, but that doesn't mean you should make a hasty decision.
Here are the most unique baby names that are growing in popularity.
Parents don't have to reinvent the wheel to give their kids unique names.
Sometimes, you can just put a little twist on a name that's already popular, using uncommon
spellings of more common names.
Baby name expert and founder of babynamewizard.com, Laura Wattenberg, told Today's Parent in an
interview,
"Parents are using a lot of unconventional vowel combinations as a way for a name to
stand out."
That could mean replacing names that end in "y" with not just one, but two "i's."
"Lily" becomes "Lilii," or "Molly" becomes "Mollii."
"Oh, that's very pretentious."
According to the expert, parents are also opting for "ae" combos; for example, Laeyla
instead of the ever-popular Layla.
The "iy" combination is also increasing in popularity, which means names like Mia have
started transforming into Miya.
Although swapping letters for similar-sounding ones will make for a unique, distinctive name,
it's worth noting that these names will only stand out on paper.
"Saerah" still sounds like Sarah, regardless of how it is spelled on the child's birth
certificate.
Pop culture has always had a big influence on baby names, and it's no different now.
The name Miles started to rise in popularity after Chrissy Teigen and John Legend welcomed
their second child, Miles.
The couple's first child, Luna, also provided some baby name inspo for prospective parents.
As it happens, even the couple's first names went on to become more popular.
The baby name experts at BabyCenter have noticed a greater uptick in "power couple" names.
Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande may have broken up a while back, but their names had a big
presence in the headlines while they were together, serving as inspiration to a new
wave of baby Petes and little Arianas.
Thanks to Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin's whirlwind romance, BabyCenter predicted both
of their names to rise on the charts throughout the year as well.
Sure, it's unusual to name your children after celebrity couples, and maybe even a little
awkward if those celebs break up, but you've got to get your names from somewhere, right?
In 2018, Black Panther shattered records and had one of the biggest opening weekends, to
the tune of $202 million.
At the 91st Academy Awards, Black Panther won three Oscars.
The film received a 97 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and was well-received by audiences.
You really couldn't help but become obsessed with the fictional world of Wakanda and all
of the characters in the film.
The superhero movie didn't just stay relegated to Hollywood, though.
Baby name expert Laura Wattenberg told Today's Parent that "it introduced a whole new realm
of names," including T'Challa, Okoye, Ramonda, Zuri, and plenty others.
But should you name your baby after the comic book characters?
Comedian Kevin Fredericks offered his opinion.
"You can name your baby whatever you want.
It's their life to ruin.
It's their cross to bear, she going to go by 'Dria anyway."
He's not wrong.
Some parents seem to just be hoping for warmer weather when naming their newborns.
According to BabyCenter, more and more parents are naming their babies not just after any
location, but after southern areas of the U.S.
In recent years, the experts have predicted that Texas would serve as unusual inspiration
for parents.
Texas towns Dallas and Austin were expected to become increasingly popular baby names.
Charlotte, North Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia were also predicted to inspire names and climb
the charts.
The trend is unusual, but it actually follows a similar warm-weather pattern from the year
prior.
The name Tennessee became 31 percent more popular for boys and 21 percent for girls
in 2018.
Areas within Tennessee also became a trendy choice.
Memphis and Nash, a possible derivative of Nashville, picked up steam throughout the
year, while parents also started to favor Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, and
Macon, a city in Georgia.
You may not think there's a whole lot of names that end in the letter W, but that won't be
the case for long.
Baby name expert Laura Wattenberg told Today's Parent that "w" is, quote, "a hot last letter
to look for."
This means traditional names, like Matthew and Andrew, or more unique names, like Sparrow
and Snow, could be popular choices in the years to come.
Wattenberg even predicted that the name Bartholomew will be making a comeback.
Yes, that's right, Bartholomew.
As a biblical name, it has obviously been around for a while, but it hasn't exactly
been popular all this time.
When considering an unusual name like this, it's also advisable to think about what nicknames
your child might be called.
One woman revealed on babynamewizard.com that her boyfriend is named Bartholomew, but "everyone
calls him Bart."
If you're concerned about The Simpsons correlation, you might just want to steer clear of this
one.
"Name?
Hm.
Name...name...My name is…"
For a more modern W-ending, Wattenberg suggested the name "Crew".
It's still unique without being too different.
It's a name that seems to be growing in popularity; you may have heard it as the name of the fifth
child of Fixer Upper hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines.
While it's generally not advised to name your child something unusual just for kicks, it
is becoming more common to name your child after kicks, that is, footwear.
Yes, shoes have started to inspire their own unique genre of baby names.
While you probably won't be introduced to a baby named Birkenstock anytime soon, at
least we hope not, sneaker-inspired names, like Converse-inspired Chuck and Taylor as
well as Vans-inspired Van, started to trend in 2018, according to BabyCenter.
And this pattern has only continued.
Names like Falcon, Stan, and Smith, which come from Adidas shoe lines, were expected
to become more popular.
Baby name experts even predicted that some other brand names, like Puma, would begin
to take off.
And that's just what happened.
Nevertheless, if you're not really, really into sneakers, you might want to weigh your
options carefully before making the commitment to name your little one after your favorite
footwear.
While feminine names were once all the rage, the modern era is seeking more ambiguous monikers.
While gender-neutral names like Jamie or Dana have been around for a long time, parents
these days are not just sticking to the classics.
According to Nameberry, these names are going to range from somewhat familiar unisex names,
like Robin, to some highly unusual names, like Briar, Story, Royal, Revel, Journey,
and even Justice.
Whether parents go with a traditional or unusual unisex name, one thing is for sure.
Speaking to the New York Post, Linda Murray, global editor-in-chief and overall name expert,
said,
"This generation is truly interested in gender-neutral names."
While gender fluidity has certainly had an influence on this baby name trend, Pamela
Satran, baby name expert and cofounder of Nameberry, told the publication that it's
not the sole reason.
According to her,
"A lot of people choose unisex names because they think they're cool or they're meaningful
to themselves, but they raise their kids in a very gender-specific way."
You may think you've heard of everything when it comes to baby names, but baby name expert
Laura Wattenberg predicted that edgy names that actually imply danger are surprisingly
on the rise.
Eyebrow-raising names like Gunner, Trigger, and Shooter actually started increasing in
popularity in the mid-2010s, according to Nameberry, but violent names just keep on
keepin' on.
As Wattenberg put it to Today's Parent,
"There's no longer a limit on how hyper-macho we'll go with boys names."
"Touch Rustrod."
"Reef Blastbody."
"Big McLargehuge."
While any one of these names would certainly make for an unusual moniker for your newborn,
the trend is admittedly disconcerting.
If you're having trouble wrapping your mind around this trend, the baby name expert revealed
a possible reason for the uptick in dangerous-sounding names.
Gender-neutral names have started to become more common.
As such, girl names have become more masculine.
Boy names, on the other hand, have become even more masculine, or, as the case may be,
violent.
If you're looking for baby name inspiration, you might not have to look any further than
a box of crayons.
Baby name site Nameberry has predicted plenty of colorful names on the rise, with extra
emphasis on pastel hues.
Gray, or its alternate British spelling Grey, is thought to top Blue as both a middle and
first name.
Mauve, Lilac, Ivory, Fawn, Sage, and Ash are some other color variations to choose from.
Parents even have the option to combine some top trends.
If you're looking for a colorful name that also ends in the letter "w," Yellow might
just be the ticket.
Of course, what's on trend now may not be so hot in 30, 40, or 50 years.
That's not to say you can't name your baby Saffron or Slate or Tawny or whatever color
you desire, but not every color name is guaranteed to have the same staying power as Ruby or
Scarlet.
Yoga and meditation have become more mainstream across the United States.
Even children are getting involved in the ancient practice.
This might just be the reason Eastern religious names and mythological names have become more
popular.
Although you may not have met anyone named Bodhi, you might know of Bodhi yoga.
Baby name expert Pam Satran said names after mythological gods and goddesses like Asherah,
Kali, Lakshmi, and Rama will start to become more mainstream as well.
It's always a good idea to do your homework when considering any of these ancient names.
The name Kali, which has increased in popularity since 2018, sounds beautiful and simple, but
is actually the name of a dark goddess.
Translated from Sanskrit, her name literally means "She Who Is Death."
That might lead to an awkward conversation with your daughter someday.
Minimalism has become an increasingly popular lifestyle and aesthetic over recent years,
but who could've imagined that the "less is more" philosophy would also be able to influence
baby names?
Nameberry revealed that popular 4-letter names like Emma are taking a backseat to sleek,
shorter three-letter names.
While some super short names are fairly traditional, like Ida or May, others are much more unusual,
like emerging names Rio, Koa, and Jem.
If you're thinking of going with a minimalist name, you also have the opportunity to embrace
some other unusual trends.
"Van" made Nameberry's list because of its three letters, but this moniker also happens
to be a popular one among the sneakerhead crowd.
Rex, too, fits the bill for a minimalist name, but it also has what baby name expert Laura
Wattenberg called the "official turbo charger of names and words": the letter X.
The late Robin Williams loved the Legend of Zelda video game series so much that he named
his daughter after the titular character.
Thankfully, the young Williams grew up to be a fan of the series and became something
of a gamer herself.
Although she was named after the Nintendo princess back in the late '80s, video game-inspired
baby names have only gotten more popular.
As Laura Wattenberg put it,
"Every year the new crop of games gives us a new crop of names."
The expert revealed that some of the most popular names could come from Final Fantasy,
Dishonored, and League of Legends with names like Noctis, Corvo, and Xayah.
Role-playing games can be influential when it comes to baby names, even when those names
get a little out of control.
The good news?
You don't even have to be a gamer to appreciate some of the awesome baby names that stem from
them.
Nameberry provided dozens of video game-inspired names, and, while it's true some of them may
be best left to the gaming console, like Mortal Kombat's Cyrax, there are plenty of names
that work just as well in real life too, like Jax and Jedah.
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