If we can tell anything by American baby name trends, it is that pop culture (or lack thereof) influences parents throughout the U.S. The same goes for the reverse: when you're out, so is your name. I, Mallory Moss, co-founder of BabyNames.com, go through which celebrities are pooping-out this year based on the Social Security Administration's Change in Popularity of Baby Names from 2013 to 2014.
Miley & Britney. Both Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears have had several controversies over the last few years. The name Miley tanked last year to have the biggest decrease in popularity of all girl names, sinking from #388 in 2013 to #733 in 2014. Similarly, the name Britney plummeted in popularity, from #839 to #1154. It could be that parents did not like these stars' journeys when it came to the theme of good girls going bad.
Kourtney & Khloe. Well, it seems like parents no longer wish to keep up with the Kardashians. Kourtney sunk from #860 in 2013 to #1027 in 2014. Khloe showed a 10% decrease but still remains in the top 100 names. Of note, K-names seem to be on the way out, with 40% of the top 10 names that decreased in popularity starting with the letter K. Among them are Karly (#2), Kaya (#4), Kaylyn (#7), and Karissa (#9).
Rhianna & Gwyneth. Perhaps the new trend is to go with character names from popular TV shows and movies (Khaleesi and Arya for girls, Anakin for boys) rather than celebrity names. Although Rhianna still rules the music world, her name has declined in popularity from #956 in 2013 to #1189 in 2014, making Rhianna #6 in decreased usage. Gwyneth has also gone down in popularity, from #889 in 2013 to #1058 in 2014. At least Gwyenth is actually on the list of top 1,000 names -- whereas, Apple (the name of Gwynneth Paltrow's daughter) is not.
Male names that have lost popularity in the United States between 2013 and 2014 seem to have less of a celebrity influence. However, two names that are familiar include Dwayne #11 (as in The Rock, Dwayne Johnson) and Carmelo #17 (basketballer Carmelo Anthony). The top 10 downtrending boy names are Bently, Damion, Amare, Isiah, Xair, Sidney, Deegan, Jair, Juelz, and Corban.
So if you are tracking star power or just want to see who is on trend (for girls: Aranza, Montserrat/Monserrat, Maisie, and Zendaya; for boys: Bode/Bodhi/Bodie, Axl, Gannon, Coen, and yes, even Anakin), be sure you pay attention to baby names in the United States and abroad.
Dr. Mallory Moss is a board-certified nurse practitioner in psychiatry and a founding partner of BabyNames.com. Since its launch in 1996, BabyNames.com has been heralded as one of the top parenting sites on the internet. Dr. Moss' passions lay in community-based mental health and destigmatizing mental health diagnoses. Dr. Moss was also the editor of the popular online parenting advice column, "Ask Grandma Maggie."