It has become unsurprising when celebrities choose to give their babies an odd sounding name. What isn’t so expected is when people who are not famous choose to give their babies a name that is unique (and bordering on bizarre). BabyCenter.com has a list of the most unusual baby names of 2012.
Genealogists who have been working on their family trees quickly notice that some names have been in the family for generations. It is also common for parents to choose a name for their baby that was inspired by popular culture.
Some parents intentionally choose to give their daughters and sons unique names. I suppose this is to help them stand out in the crowd as they go through life.
BabyCenter.com does a list every year of the most unusual baby names. Their data for the list of most unusual baby names of 2012 came from their annual baby naming survey. More than 4,000 parents answered the survey. In order for a name to appear on the list, it had to have been given to at least two babies.
In 2011, babies were named after politicians, talk show hosts, and a variety of characters from cartoons and movies. In 2012, things changed. No politicians or talk show hosts names ended up on the list. Instead, there were names that were probably inspired by a video game.
I’ll leave you to read the full list at BabyCenter.com., and just pick out a few that caught my attention the most. At least two little girls were given the name Americus in 2012. Other locationally based names for girls included California and Zealand.
Some babies were given computer related names. At least two little girls are going to have to answer to the name Excel. Perhaps they will be in the same classroom as one of the little boys who was named Google.
There were also plenty of names that come from geek culture. At least two little boys were named Tron in 2012. Parents gave the name Rogue to both boys and girls. One of the character classes you can choose in World of Warcraft is the Rogue class. There is also an X-men character named Rogue, which could explain the name choice for girls (but not for boys).
Two or more little boys have been named Jedi. There were also at least two boys named Vice, which makes me think of the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video game. Parents also named at least two little boys Elite. Those kids better be epically amazing gamers when they get bigger!
Also on the list was the name Jury, which was granted to at least two little girls. The United States is an extremely litigious society, so maybe that one shouldn’t surprise me. There are at least two little boys who have been given the name Hurricane, possibly in reference to Hurricane Sandy.
Image by Tomas de Aquino on Flickr