All About America explores American culture, politics, trends, history, ideals and places of interest.
Liam. Olivia. Noah. Emma.
Those were the most popular American baby names in 2022, the most recent year for which the U.S. Social Security Administration has released data.
It’s a traditional trend that continues into 2024, according to Jennifer Moss, founder and CEO of BabyNames.com.
“They’re very traditional in terms of both the boys and the girls’ names. Like, for girls, names like Amelia and Violet — what we still consider the grandma names, the old-fashioned names — are still very, very popular,” Moss says. “On the boys’ side, biblical names have always stayed strong, like Michael and David and Elias. And so those, I don’t think, will ever be trending out.”
But gender fluid names are also gaining ground, according to Moss.
“Gender-neutral names are becoming a little more popular for both male and female babies,” she says. “And, you know, I’d say since, like, about the 1970s, at the start of the women’s movement, it was more acceptable to give girls traditionally boys names than to do it the other way around. And still, that’s happening. You’re not going to see a boy named Jennifer.”
Part of what’s contributing to the rise of gender-neutral names is a growing movement of what Moss calls “dictionary names.”
“People are turning to the dictionary and turning to words that have never been names before and using them as baby names,” she says. “Previously, people have used nature names like Willow and River, and also place names like Paris, but now they’re going for things like Berry or Bronze or Banner or Savory. So, these are words that either have a special meaning to them, or they just like the sound of the word. I don’t really understand why it’s happening.”
Whatever the reason, sociologist Michelle Napierski-Prancl doesn’t think these new naming conventions reflect major gender identity shifts in American society.
“It’s more acceptable to talk about it and to explore gender. I don’t think we’re suddenly gender fluid,” says Napierski-Prancl, a professor of sociology at Russell Sage College in New York. “I think it shows a recognition of a more fluid understanding of gender and what’s appropriate to name our children, that we don’t necessarily have to keep it in certain boxes that, ‘This is a girl’s name,’ or ‘This is a boy name.’”
And how will having a gender-neutral name like Berry, Bronze, Banner or Savory impact how a person views themself once they grow up?
“There’s this theory called the looking-glass self, that when we put ourselves out there, the reflection that gets back from the people we meet can influence our sense of self. So, the name we present could very likely have that impact,” Napierski-Prancl says.
“Names can tell us a lot about ourselves, about others, about their parents’ choices. If you’re a junior, you’re carrying on your father’s name or father’s legacy. And so, there’s a lot that can come in this label that we present ourselves as,” she adds.
Names are sometimes a reflection of the society a child is born into. What their parents choose to call them can reveal what music, movies and television shows were popular at the time of the person’s birth.
“There’s so much more that we have access to now through social media and TikTok and all these different kinds of influencers that we’re going to probably start seeing other aspects of our popular culture influence the names that we give,” says Napierski-Prancl. “Maybe things from influencers and TikTok and so forth will be influencing this next generation of parents coming up.”
Moss says that historically, parents have been more conservative in naming boys and a little more creative in naming girls. But that might be changing.
“On the boys’ side, they are getting a little more creative,” she says. “They’re going towards names like Archer and Atlas and using god and goddess names like Apollo. And even names from space, like Orion.”
As to the future, Moss expects Generation Beta — those born from 2025 to 2039 — to have names that are even more out there.
“I think there’s going to be more outright created names that, to us, will sound more science fiction,” she says. “I predict that there’s going to be just more outright ‘I’m going to create syllables, and it’s going to become a name.’ Because that’s the next step — going from creating an alternate spelling to a name or taking it from the dictionary, the next step is just outright creating one.”