#baby-names

#baby-names

TODAY's Craig Melvin, Sheinelle Jones and Al Roker, took a stab at guessing BabyCenter's No. 1 name, in honor of the 2025 list. While the co-hosts did not guess the top names, they said they weren't surprised. "We know a lot of Noahs," Sheinelle said. Olivia has been at No. 1 for six straight years and been a top 10 name in the U.S. since 2001, Craig said. "I think it's not coincidental. Did you ever read the Olivia books to your daughters, the little girl pig?" Al said.

DEAR ABBY: My longtime friend let's call her Cindy is six months pregnant and has started sharing name ideas with me. Cindy will hear a word she thinks sounds pretty and decide it will make a great name for her daughter, regardless of the meaning of the word. I had to beg her to stop considering Chlamydia as a name. She finally agreed after I repeatedly emphasized the bullying her daughter could receive over that name.

It's no doubt that your new baby is absolutely, positively, uniquely beyond beautiful. So, naturally, you need an appropriate name to match. While there is an endless amount of beautiful names out there, there are only some that, when translated into other languages or usages, actually mean "beautiful." For one of the more literal options, there's Jameela, which translates in Arabic to beautiful or lovely, and Bella/o, Italian for beautiful. Then, there's also Mei-lin, which can be translated to mean "beautiful forest,"

"There's a certain set of parents that believe weapons-inspired names have a renegade spirit, which has been a rising theme among today's trendy baby names," Kihm noted. "Maverick ranks higher than ever, and cowboy-style names like Dutton, Stetson and Boone are climbing the charts."

Some popular picks fall off the map, while others dip down to the bottom only to make a comeback later. And then there are the classics that remain popular to this day. Knowing the Social Security Administration's baby names database goes back to the 1880s, we decided to take a look at parents' choices 100 years ago to see which ones tanked and which have serious staying power.

'Bout 250 Mexican kids in 10 years gonna have to explain why they named Shohei Rodriguez,' one viral post on X quipped after Shohei Ohtani hit three home runs, pitched six shutout innings and struck out 10 Brewers in the NLCS-clinching game. The prediction may not be so far off: Nameberry, the world's largest baby naming site, saw a 1,000% increase in searches on the name Shohei just this week.

The couple announced the birth of their fourth child, a daughter, in a joint Instagram post Oct. 11. The announcement included a video montage of their daughter, featuring clips of Nara Smith cradling the newborn against her chest, Lucky Blue Smith cuddling with his daughter and an adorable shot of the couple's three older children marveling at their sibling. "she's here!" they captioned the post. "welcome to the world little angel." They did not share their daughter's name.

If you think about it, lots of popular baby names today are actually just words or names of other things - think River, Maverick, and Sage. Nature names, flower names, and virtue names are all super trendy right now, but they all fall under one larger category: word names for babies. And while all of the earthy names and animal-inspired monikers are beautiful, if you look outside those common categories, you'll find even more unique and meaningful word names for babies that will have people saying, "Oh, what a beautiful name," your baby's whole life through.

But it is surprising that two of the women (who happen to be best friends) gave their babies very similar names. Mikayla Matthews welcomed her fourth child, Lottie June, on July 17, and Mayci Neeley introduced her third child, Charli May, via Instagram on July 26. Notice any similarities? If not, we'll help connect the dots: Lottie and Charli are both nicknames for Charlotte, and their middle names are both spring months.

Miller's experience illustrates the confusion that can arise when twins have mismatched names, often leading others to assume a thematic connection that does not exist.

In 2024, Olivia was the most popular name for girls in Camden, Kensington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Kingston, and Wandsworth, while Amelia topped fourteen boroughs, double from the year before.

Muhammad remains the most popular boys' name for the second year, with 5,721 babies given the name in 2024. Mohammed and Mohammad also ranked with alternate spellings.

"Vintage baby names are names that were in style amongst past generations and then fell out of style at some point," Colleen Slagen explains.

In order for something to be considered a main character baby name, it needs to have charisma - to make your little one sound like they could easily front a band, run the board room, or star in the show.

Retro baby names evoke images of the '70s and '80s, offering a fresh alternative to both modern and overly vintage names.

Azriel, a name associated with the angel of death, saw over 800 baby boys named in 2024, showing the influence of romantasy on baby naming.

In New Jersey, parents have chosen names like Liam and Mia as top picks for babies, steering clear of traditional old-fashioned names.

Every year, the Social Security Administration releases a hulking list of the 1,000 most popular names given to new babies the previous year.

"It's one of the first pope names in a while that's very trendy, compared to John and Paul and Benedict and Francis," says baby naming consultant Colleen Slagen.

Aiden signifies strength and gumption; Ajani means "He who wins the struggle"; Asa translates to "healer"; Asher symbolizes happiness; Atlas stands for endurance; Caleb indicates whole-heartedness; Conrad, "brave counselor".