'Game of Thrones' and 'Hunger Games' inspire baby names
The baby name website Nameberry says names from fantasy novels 'Game of Thrones' and 'Hunger Games' are among the most popular this year.
The baby name website Nameberry says names from fantasy novels 'Game of Thrones' and 'Hunger Games' are among the most popular this year.
Sure, plenty of fans may have admired calm stylist Cinna from Suzanne Collins鈥 鈥淭he Hunger Games鈥 trilogy or spunky Arya from the 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥 series by George R.R. Martin.
But enough to name their children after them?
The baby name website Nameberry is reporting that names from 鈥淗unger Games鈥 and 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥 have experienced massive spikes in popularity so far in 2012, with the name Arya soaring over 800 percent in popularity and coming in at number one on Nameberry鈥檚 list of most popular names.
Meanwhile, the name Cinna 鈥 along with Senna, a female version 鈥 are both up 1,500 percent from their rankings last year, according to Nameberry, and came in at number seven on the list.
The name Theon, the moniker of a male 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥 character who struggles when he is torn between two families, has also had a surge, ranking at number eight on the list.
Other literary names coming to the forefront include Gatsby after the titular character in the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which came in at spot number 11 on Nameberry鈥檚 rankings. (Perhaps influenced by the Baz Luhrmann film version of the book due out late this year?) And as for TV, the website credits popular British period series 鈥淒ownton Abbey鈥 with the rise of the name Sybil, which is the fifth most popular name on the list. On 鈥淒ownton,鈥 Sybil Crawley is the youngest of three daughters who becomes a nurse during World War I.
In 2011, the Social Security Administration reported that Jacob, also the name of the loyal werewolf from Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series, was the most popular boy name of the year, while Isabella, the full name of "Twilight" protagonist Bella Swan, was number two for female names.