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The Fastest-Rising Boys’ Names of the Year

May 10, 2019 laurawattenberg 3 Comments

The Fastest-Rising Boys’ Names of the Year

May 10, 2019 LauraWattenberg 3 Comments
Baker Mayfield
Baker Mayfield

Counting down the boys’ names making the biggest moves on the 2018 popularity chart:

#5. Saint
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West struck a chord with their first boy’s name choice. Saint fit in with popular “exalted” names like King and Messiah, while its sound set it gently apart.

#4. Elián
In the year 2000, six-year-old Elián González was the subject of a controversial international custody dispute, and Cuban Americans rallied around efforts to keep in in the United States. The name Elián spiked in popularity. Last year, a documentary about the now adult Elián brought the name back to its highest point of popularity since that time.

#3. Kashton
Kashton brings together two popular creative-naming approaches. It’s an elaboration on a popular short name (Cash) to create a surname-styled “formal” version, and a C-to-K transformation. In 2018, it was also a popular mashup name in reference to a celebrity couple named Kenzie and Ashton.

#2. Baker
Rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield gave the Cleveland Browns their brightest ray of hope in years. He also gave parents a fresh new alternative to trade-surname favorites like Carter, Parker and Cooper.

#1. Kairo
The name Cairo has been a rising African-American favorite. In 2018 Kairo Whitfield, son of Real Housewives of Atlanta star Sheree Whitfield, launched a much-talked-about modeling career and put his his K version of the name in the spotlight.

LauraWattenberg
LauraWattenberg

Namerology founder and "Baby Name Wizard" author Laura Wattenberg is a globally recognized name expert, known for her scientific approach to understanding name trends and culture.

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3 Comments

  • Elea May 11, 2019 at 8:08 pm

    Is there anything in particular that accounts for the rise of Cairo itself?

    • LauraWattenberg
      LauraWattenberg May 11, 2019 at 9:09 pm

      I don’t know of a specific trigger…it rose with a lot of geographic names, then a celebrity baby in 2012 (Tyga & Blac Chyna’s son King Cairo) accelerated matters.

      • Elea May 12, 2019 at 5:15 pm

        Interesting. Thanks! It’s been steadily growing for boys in England and Wales, and I wasn’t able to account for it. I could only think of Tia Mowry’s daughter but that is too recent.

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