No Donalds or Karens on This List

BabyNames.com has tallied up the top most popular names of the year and the winners are Oliver for boys and Amelia for girls.

“Both Donald and Karen are nowhere on the top 1000 names,” says Jennifer Moss, Founder and CEO of BabyNames.com. She states that politics and pop culture have a big influence on baby naming. “In 2020, the name Karen has gone the way of Dick,” says Moss. “Both names are now associated with negative personal traits.”

Other trends Moss sees for 2021 include names with the “ph” sound: Sophia, Ophelia, Josephine, and Persephone are on the rise for girls. On the boys’ side, Celtic names Liam, Aidan, Declan, Owen, and Finn appear in the top 20.

Moss says there’s also a rise in what she calls “Power Names”. Power names are those that are associated with bold characteristics like Rogue and Maverick, weapons like Remington and Blade, and gods or goddesses like Freya and Apollo. “I believe that parents want to infuse strength into their children during these difficult times.”

To view the full list of 100 most popular names of 2020, visit BabyNames.com.