The Strangest Baby Names of the Last Ten Years
When naming your new-born baby, you’ll be forgiven for thinking that a conventional name such as John, Emma or Robert won’t do: you want your child to have a unique name. While spotting the numerous signs of pregnancy, you’ll be thinking about what name is right for your child, as well as what you’d like to call them.
Over the past ten years, parents’ tendencies to choose exotic names for their kids have grown spectacularly to the point that some of them are becoming as common as a John, Mark or Laura. Choosing a weird and wonderful name takes just as much thought as it would picking a more conventional name, and those who do often choose to as a way of showing how wacky and leftfield they are.
Aside from wanting to help their children establish some sort of individuality, there are other reasons why exotic names are chosen by parents. They often do it in homage to a celebrity who’s already given their son our daughter a weird name, do so to reflect their beliefs or after something they like. They even do it to make sure that they don’t have to share a name with anyone.
One popular trend in baby names is naming a child after a celebrity. Naming a boy or girl Rooney, Cobain or Bowie is something which has seen a real surge in popularity in recent years, and is set to continue. Fashion is another inspiration, and names such as Denim and Armani have become an increasingly popular name choice for mothers and fathers who have a love affair with clothes.
A poll conducted by Bounty revealed that as many as a third of parents said they had tried to give their child an unusual name. However, more than one in ten who responded said they had later regretted their decision. Another result showed that one in ten children given a weird name didn’t like it, and 14% of those asked to change it, while 85% of parents said that other people’s reactions to their child names have mellowed over time as the child got used to it and developed a matching personality.
A list of the 20 most popular weird and wonderful names of the past decade was released by Bounty, and some of the results are more surprising than others. Top of the list is Shy, which is closely followed by Unity, Bean, Zowie and Puppy. Some of them have become commonplace, while others on the list such as Porsche, Maroon and D’Andre are still seldom seen or heard.
*This post is brought to you by our friends at Bounty
I work processing income taxes, over the last 10 years I have heard and seen some of the most craziest names ever. Often I have to ask the sex of the child, and how to spell it because they usually try and stick some weird letters in there !
wow you would think that Porsche would be a lot more common than puppy, who would name their child puppy lol :) I spelled my daughter’s name with an A instead of an O and wish I hadn’t now because she will never be able to buy any personalized items at gift shops :(
I definitely feel to each their own. We named out daughter Rhowan and you would have thought that was was outside the box but now our families love it and I can’t imagine her as any other name. Apple and Puppy are too far out for me but thats what makes the world an interesting place to be :)
We did fret for an entire two days of a road trip over the perfect name for our little bundle. We sifted through every site and book we could find to narrow it down. Then started pairing our favorites with middle names making sure they sounded good with our last name. It was a process to say the least! We wanted something classy and beautiful to say for our daughter. If we had a boy we were opting for a name that hand some backbone and would be strong and assertive, yet All-American. I was actually surprised that we agreed as quickly as we did! We get lots of compliments on our daughter’s name, hopefully she feels the same way about it growing up!
Recently we have heard a few names that are bizarre that I’d love to share. My two favorites are: (and you can find this one in news articles for the Chesapeake, VA area) “Iced Tea Baby Jesus” and “La-a” (originally thought to be pronounced “La” “a” two sounds, when in fact the mother wanted it to be pronounced “La” “dash” “a”). I can foresee the torment in their futures over their names…
are you kidding me? puppy? wow.
There are definitely some strange names out there, but I think some more unique names are wonderful!
Bean, Zowie and Puppy? Wow… those are very… strange! I’ve never heard those, but I have heard Porsche, Maroon and D’Andre.
Puppy…really? Yikes!!
I feel sorry for the kid named Puppy – his days on the playground are going to be tough , especially if his parents also use a “leash”
People don’t think very far ahead when naming their child. How will the other kids tease them? Is this really a name you want to put at the top of a resume? I love David Bowie more than your average fan, but there’s no way I’d name my child Bowie
I can’t imagine telling someone, “I have two kids, Shy and Puppy.” I don’t think it occurs to these parents that baby Puppy is going to grow up and go to school and someday apply for a job…These people are probably better off getting pets.
I agree with the really outlandish names, but as a teacher I did pick uncommon not necessarily unusual names. My 2nd’s name I have never heard before and neither has anyone I talked to but I have to say I love it and most people seem to love it!
We stuck with pretty middle of the road names. Not too unusual, not too common. I think they all pretty much like their name. I have never liked mine so I was pretty careful. Puppy, Apple, Scout…yikes. Maybe just name them couch or wall , tree or road? It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode…Seven. funny but now so much now when you think of what people do to their poor kids. And to the cutesy names, we kept them for our dogs. Armani is our Yorkie and I laughed at that one. We also had one named Tiffany (like the jeweler). Now with a dog, even more funny to think of someone naming a child that. And so many people have names shortened, not always by parent choice but when peers do that. In our case Anthony did become Tony, whether we liked it or not. Nichole became Nikki for while, Mikaela became Mikki or Mik. So how do you shorten Puppy? LOL.
Makes you wonder what people are thinking!
I don’t have any babies of my own to name yet, but when I do the one thing I will think about is a name that I could imagine my son or daughter having and being a president or ceo. I hope to come up with a name that means something to me and my family, that is unique and also a good solid name.
When my daughter was pregnant with my grandson, she said she was going to name him Colter, I had never heard that name before, took me for ever to remember what she was going to name him. I love his name now.
I can understand naming kids after things like flowers, but to name them after random objects- like blanket, bean and puppy? I don’t get that!
I’d prefer to have a really weird name than a ridiculously common one,like Jessica! lol.
Ugh….names…. Naming a human is so much harder than I ever anticipated. My husband and I argued and were undecided up until the day our girl was born. And this baby due in just a few weeks still doesn’t have a name. We aren’t even close! I wanted something unusual but not weird. I think that’s why I lean more toward old fashioned names. I want something that’s still “normal” but not something you hear very often. *sigh* Back to the drawing board.
I think having a unique name is highly overrated. I think people should try for names that aren’t so common, but still easy enough to spell/pronounce. I named my daughter “Adeline Rose” and my son “Quinn William”. I love their names because they are beautiful and meaningful to me, they aren’t the most popular names out there and I don’t think they will be made fun of b/c of their names.
I think some people just jump on trends and do not think of the ramifications of naming their children something frivolous. I work at a college and some of the names I have seen are crazy. I think something unusual can be great, Apple is great but Moxie crimefighter?? come on!
Seyma (Shay-ma) LOL
Wow I guess I am glad I stuck to normal boring names. We are Beekeeper’s so we didn’t intend to do this but all our kids names start with a B. We figured with all our bees what’s a few more! LOL
Sorry, Becky, Betsy, & Bryan. I will have to tell them, “Hey it could of been worse, could have named you Puppy”! LOL
I would never give my child an unusual name. I would feel horrible if they hated it or made fun of in school because of it. :(
haha puppy? my daughter calls the 9 month old girl i nanny puppy, i think its the cute but not for a name and not after infancy
really these names are very odd, I feel for these poor kids as they grow up. I sure hope they have nicknames that are somewhat normal.
yeah some the names I have seen these days are just crazy. My husband and I thought long and hard about our children’s names, we wanted strong names and I think we have succeed!!! Izabel Marissa and Alexander Reese, while people don’t always need to be traditional they certainly should consider what the child will have to go through with the exotic names they give them!!!
I named my children very common names, David, Robert, Jeffrey, and Christina not in that order. Three have a first or middle name after one of my siblings, One their father. All you have to do is glance at my name and you can understand why they are common. I liked this post it was interesting and a discussion I have had often :)
Gladys P
I’m due in 3 weeks with my first baby, we are having a little boy and we have picked out the name Isaiah, but it is hard to pick a middle name. I like the unique names, but sometimes, they just seem to far out.
As a former kinder teacher, I saw all kinds. People don’t think big picture when they choose some names, you know? One of my favorites was Savior. Middle name: Our Son. Yep, you read that right. Savior Our Son {last name}.
I agree with the other commenter about crazy spellings too!
I came on here not just for a chuckle but just to keep informed with the name trends. You never know if you ever need if for an appearance on Jeopardy lol. But Puppy, OMG, the poor child will be teased throughout childhood. I believe in free will but hope parents consider the ramifications of these choices.
These children will be adults – can you imagine submitting resume for job prospects YIKES.
eva urban
I really don’t get the fashion inspired names. Denim? Seriously? I feel horrible for that poor child. However, Bowie is actually a really cool name! I may be a little biased as a serious Bowie fan, but still. It’s unique without being totally strange.
Daughter has a Porcshe @ school (and I don’t mean a car!). I love more traditional names myself! :o)
Puppy? That’s a real name????
When we were thinking of our children’s names we tried to come up with not common but not strange names either. Our oldest child’s name is irish and I am very irish so we thought it was a good fit. I guess a lot of other people thought the same because the name Aidan (although not his spelling) is quite popular!! Oh well.
Just my 2 cents but I can’t imagine a worse way to name your child than after a fashion designer. I immediately conjure up thoughts of shallow, self involved people.
My least favorite name is, and I’m sorry if you named your child this, Nevaeh (heaven spelled backwards). Even that seems to be gaining popularity.
What always gets to me is when someone takes a normal name and then decides on an unusual spelling that no one can figure out. Ashley becomes Achaleigh. Karen becomes Kayrynne. Molly becomes Mahli. Have you noticed this sort of trend?
I think parents should stick to more traditional names. Names are getting crazy these days!
My husband and I had a lot of trouble picking out our daughter’s first name. Actually, we didn’t decide until the day before she got to come home from the hospital. We ended up naming her Rylie Paige and it fits her to a T!!
Puppy?? You’ve got to be kidding me. Some of those names just seem a little cruel to me! Also not a fan of naming a kid after a celebrity. Seems silly. To each their own though.