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Not Your Mother’s Baby Names
Not Your Mother’s Baby Names
Dec 21, 2024 11:05 PM

  There’s an entire generation of new baby names that are moving rapidly up the popularity list and that distinguish themselves by being recently minted–and by the fact that grandparents do a double take the first time they hear them. For even if they existed as surnames or place names or occupations, they’ve rarely been used before as first names.  Many of these new baby names are morphed versions of names that were used in another form earlier, while others have been spun from thin air.

  Some are clearly celebrity-sourced—as when Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale gave their son a name inspired by their own personal associations with the island of Jamaica—and it wasn’t long before the name Kingston jumped onto the list.  Similarly, the singular name Miley has spread like wildfire with the fame of its onetime exclusive bearer.

  Putting aside the legion of offshoots and variations—in rhyming and spelling—of  names related to Riley, Ryan, Bailey, Aiden, Tyler and Tyson, which already seem so 20th century– we’ve come up with a list of some of the most prominent nouveau names.  Although a precise demarcation can’t be drawn, and some of them were coming onto the radar in the 90s, these are the new baby names that definitely have a 21st century feel.

  Girls (mostly)

  ADDISON

  AINSLEY

  ARIA

  ASHBY

  AUDRINA

  CADENCE

  CALI

  ELLE

  HADLEY

  HARLOW

  HAVEN

  KHLOE

  LUNA

  MARLEY

  MILEY

  MYA

  PAISLEY

  REESE

  RHIANNA and RIHANNA

  SAGE

  SIENNA

  SKYLA

  TAYLA

  TEAGAN

  ZOEY

  Some other girls’ names that haven’t made it onto the list yet, but are very much headed that way :

  ASHBY

  AVALON

  JUNOESMÉSCOUT

  TALLULAH

  VITA

  Boys (mostly)

  ACE

  ATTICUS

  AXEL

  BECKETT

  CAMDEN

  CANNON

  CASE

  CASH

  CHACE

  COHEN

  DASHIELL

  DAX

  DEACON

  FISHER

  JAGGER

  JAX

  JETT

  KIAN and KYAN

  KINGSTON

  KYLAN

  LENNON

  MADDOX

  MAVERICK

  MAXIMUS

  NASH

  ORION

  PAX

  RIVER

  ROMEO

  RYDER

  RYKER

  STONE

  TREVON

  TRACE

  TURNER

  ZANDER and XANDER

  Some other boys’ name candidates for the list:

  BODHI

  EVERLY

  FLINT

  JETSON

  PAX

  ROCKET

  STEEL

  WILDER

  Either

  AVERY

  BLAZE

  EASTON

  EMERSON

  EMERY

  HARLEY

  HARPER

  HAYDEN (newer for girls)JOURNEY

  JUSTICE

  KAI

  PAYTON/PEYTON

  ROWAN

  SAGE

  SAWYER

  SHILOH

  SKYLAR

  TAJ

  TRACE

  ZION

  And some other unisex names in the air:

  AUDEN

  BRIGHTON

  CHARLESTON

  DREAM

  INDIGO

  REEVE

  ROMY

  STORY

  TRUE

  WEST

  What do you consider the quintessential 21st century name?

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