These intriguing and remarkable names made their all-time debuts last year.

Each year, American parents find new names that have never before appeared in national baby name statistics. The innovations come from all over the world, from pop-culture inspirations, and from pure fashion-driven creativity. Meet some of the names that were given to five or more boys for the first time last year.

TV and Movie Character Names

Eredin: Eredin Bréacc Glas is the fearsome King of the Wild Hunt in The Witcher.
Harwin, Lucerys, Viserys, Aemond, Jacaerys: Characters from the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon.
Namor: A Marvel superhero with water powers, seen in the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Neteyam: One of the blue Na’vi aliens in Avatar: The Way of Water.
Thorfinn: A medieval Scandinavian name, featured in the sitcom Ghosts and anime series Vinland Saga.
Zorro: Incredibly, this hero who made his film debut over a century ago never hit the name stats until now.

Names in the News

Aire: A son of reality tv entrepreneur Kylie Jenner and rapper Travis Scott.
Bregman: Hoston Astros baseball star Alex Bregman.
Forrie: Yellowstone actor Forrie J. Smith.
Ramadhani: Tanzanian acrobats The Ramadhani Brothers won the tv competition America’s Got Talent.
Shedeur: College football quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Tanitoluwa: Tanitoluwa Adewumi is a young Nigerian-American chess prodigy who learned the game when staying in a homeless shelter in New York with his refugee family.
Volodymyr: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy. See the 2022 Name of the Year.

Word Names

Bayou
Bolt
Camino
Chrome
Coastal
Dice
Ethic
Fame
Forge
Just
Nylon
Olympus
Pine
Realm
Risen
Rookie
Trophy

A Not-Quite Word Name

Sullen: This word, meaning sulky and ill-tempered, seems to have become a name indirectly via Sullen Art Collective, a popular “tattoo lifestyle” clothing brand.

Global Names

Granit: Albanian for “granite.” Granit Xhaka is a Swiss-Albanian soccer star.
Haweo: Hawaiian for “glowing, distinguished.”
Ifedayo: Yoruba, “love has become joy.”
Menua: Armenian, from the name of an ancient Urartian king.
Sviatoslav: A medieval prince of Kyiv.
Tecuani: Nahuatl for “jaguar.”
Valtteri: Finnish form of Walter. Valtteri Bottas is a Formula One racing champion.

Games and Animation

Giorno: Italian for “day.” Giorno Giovanna is a character in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Nihilus: Darth Nihilus is a fan-favorite villain in the Star Wars game Knights of the Old Republic II.
Varrick: A flamboyant billionaire in The Legend of Korra.
Luciel: The protagonist of The Great Cleric series.

Internet Personalities

Jesser: The handle of basketball YouTuber Jesse Riedel.
Noen: TikTok fashion influencer Noen Eubanks.
Yahki: “Yah’ki Awakened” is a lifestyle influencer with an herbal supplement brand.
Zakyius: A child of the internet personalities “The Trench Family.”

…and More Names of Interest

Atigun: The Atigun Pass is a high mountain pass in Alaska.
Bonaventure: Saint Bonaventure was a medieval theologian.
Dunamis: An ancient Greek word mean power and potential, more recently adopted as a Christian term for holy power unleashed through prayer.
Mictlan: The name of the Aztec underwold of the dead.
Montezuma: The Aztec emperor who clashed with Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.
Tulsen: A neo-cowboy elaboration on the place name Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Cyx, Sixx, Syxx; Amilian, Amillieon, Amilleon, Millieon. New additions to the increasingly creative realm of number names.