Advertisement

After royal wedding, 'Meghan' sees boost as popular baby name

By Danielle Haynes
Meghan Markle's wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018 may have inspired Americans to name their babies after the former actor. File Photo by Neil Hall/UPI
Meghan Markle's wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018 may have inspired Americans to name their babies after the former actor. File Photo by Neil Hall/UPI | License Photo

May 10 (UPI) -- The names "Emma" and "Liam" maintained their spot as the most popular American baby names in 2018, but the biggest boost in popularity among names might have been inspired by last year's royal wedding in Britain.

The Top 5 most popular girl names were "Emma," "Olivia," "Ava," "Isabella" and "Sophia," the ranking unchanged from a year ago. "Emma" kept the top position for the fifth year in a row.

Advertisement

For boys, the Top 5 was "Liam," "Noah," "William," and "James" with "Oliver" overtaking "Logan" for the No. 5 spot. This was "Liam's" second year at No. 1.

The Social Security Administration released its annual ranking of baby names Friday.

The Top 10 names for both boys and girls have remained relatively unchanged for much of the decade.

The biggest increase in popularity for 2018 was the name "Meghan." It increased 701 spots, from No. 1,404 to No. 703, perhaps inspired by the royal wedding of American actor Meghan Markle to Britain's Prince Harry in May 2018.

Another royal name that saw a boost in popularity was "Archie," which jumped from No. 1,170 to No. 992. The duke and duchess of Sussex revealed their newborn baby's name as Archie Harrison earlier this week, so their choice obviously didn't impact the 2018 ranking of names.

Advertisement

Other names perhaps influenced by pop culture that saw a boost in popularity in 2018 were: Kylo (Adam Driver's character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens); Yara (a Game of Thrones character and actor Yara Shahidi); Bowie (singer David Bowie); and Saint (Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's son).

The baby names with the biggest decrease in popularity were "Audrina" (from No. 1,178 to No. 856) and "Aaden" (from No. 1,120 to No. 888).

Latest Headlines