12 Baby name trends for 2020

Posted on: July 16th, 2019by Elizabeth Henderson

The American naming culture is heavily influenced by the pop culture, celebrity lifestyle, and trends. Most American moms name their children after the people they admire and the things that inspire them. The millennial naming culture has seen American moms name their children after their favorite foods, places, personalities, and countries. Today, trends characterized the naming culture of majority of the American households. In this article, I will highlight the twelve baby name trends to watch out for in 2020. These trends have been developing over the past few years and they continue to dominate the naming patterns across the major cities in the US.

Celebrity Surnames

America is a land of opportunities. Those who leverage on these opportunities and create a name for themselves are respected and admired by the others. Americans easily associate with success and there is no way to do that than to name your baby after the people you admire the most. Already, names like Jolie, Beckham, Pitt, Jordan, James, Carter, and Bryant are creeping up the charts. We can only expect these names to continue to rise in the coming years.

Old School Nicknames

This trend has been in the American society for centuries. Names like Jack, Bobby, Charlie, and Tommy have been among the favorite nicknames. Even today, more and more American moms are rooting for short and cute nicknames for their babies. Among the most popular nicknames in the US today are Hunk, Vince, Ace, Bob, Bud, among many others. These names may have begun as nicknames but they are gaining popularity as first names for newborns.

Animal-inspired Names

Each animal species has a set of unique attributes that define it. As humans, we are endeared to the animals whose attributes fascinate us. Consequently, some parents want to give their children names that are associated with these animals. The most common animal names used in the American society include Wolf, Duck, Bear, Leo, Ava, and Tiger. The new entrants include Otter, Catty, Raven, Fox, Koala, Sparrow, and Falcon.

Unisex Names

The use of gender-neutral names is a long-standing tradition in the US. For instance, names like Ryan, Rory, Kelly, Joe have been in use in the US for several years. This trend refuses to go away. Instead, it has given rise to more unisex names such as Story, Harper, Micah, Briar, Kyle, Justice, River, Jules, Finley, Bailey, just to mention a few.

Three Letter Names

The millennials are not attracted to long names. These names are too complex to pronounce; hence, they become a source of frustration for the bearer. Every time, he or she is forced to spell or pronounce the name for others to catch it. This challenge has led to the rise of simple names such as three letter names. The most common names in this category include Ida, Mia, Ava, Rex, Amy, Ben, Liv, Lyn, Ivy, Jay, Van, Bob, Mai, Liz, Meg, Lou, Tod, Son, Tad, Val, Zoe and many others.

Directional Names

Oddly, some people find naming their children after directions is fascinating. This trend has been fuelled by the need to provide names with unique identities. Examples of popular directional names in the US are North, South, East, and West. The most notable baby with a directional name is North West, the daughter of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

Names with Letter “U”

Letter “U” has often been underutilized. However, in the recent years, America has witnessed the increased use of this letter in baby names. The names with this letter are slowly finding their way into the top naming charts in the US. Examples of such names include Jude, Lucia, Luna, Uriel, True, Unique, and Luca.

Gem Names

Gem names have traditionally been associated with girls, with names such as Violet and Ruby topping the naming charts for baby girls. In recent years, we have noticed a trend where these names are also given to the baby boys. Examples of gem names to look out for in 2020 include Beryl, Emerald, Onyx, Gold, Amber, Jet, Agate, Silver, Ruby, and Diamond.

Names with Letter “F”

Like letter “U”, letter “F” has not been used widely in names. With the changes in culture, this letter is also finding its spot in the baby-naming world. Among the top baby names with this letter include Fabian, Felix, Fable, Fae, Fabio, Fabiona, Frank, Finn, Frederick, Forest, Fletcher, Friday, Falcon, Fallon, Flo, Ferine, Flora and Florence.

Muted Colors

Bold colors have often dominated the American naming culture. They are represented by names such as Blue, Violet, Indigo, and Scarlet. This trend is changing with softer colors increasingly being used for baby names. The muted colors to look out for in 2020 are Moss, Gray, Sage, Brown, Ass, Hazel, and Fawn.

“Em” Names

The use of names that begin with “Em” is practice that has existed in the American culture for generations. The meaning of these names motivates the parents who use this naming technique. Other than the general meaning, these names also have personal meanings to the parents. Some of these names are gender sensitive while others are gender neutral. The following Em” names are likely to appear in the list of popular names in the US in 2020: Ember, Emily, Emery, Emmerson, Emmett, and Emma.

Global Names

America is not an isolated society. The country is made up of people from across all the major races and ethnicities around the world. When these people come together, the interaction among their cultures leads to a new culture, which is the American culture. Since names are part of culture, 2020 is likely to come with new names because of the interaction between the American culture and other global cultures. Names such as Amelia, Riley, Aria, Noah, Enoch, Emily, Elijah, Elizabeth, Angela, and Sophia, are global names whose popularity has been in the rise since the turn of the new millennium. These names will certainly hold high positions in the list of top 100 most popular names in the US in 2020.

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