By Linda Rosenkrantz

　　What are the most promising of the names rising in popularity?

　　This year 164 names—more girls’ than boys’ –made up the elite group of popular baby names that rose more than 100 places. (fyi: At the top for each gender were Riaan, with an increase of 1360 spots and Alaia, with 2012). And the new gender fluidity is shown in many of these choices (hello, Ms Elliott and Ms Lennox).

　　These jumps brought several of these popular baby names into the Top 1000: look for those that are marked with an asterisk.

　　So here are our picks of the brightest of the shooting stars:

　　GIRLS

　　Adele—Thank the fabulous singer for her name’s 114-point rise

　　Arden* — Two YouTube stars named Arden helped promote this fresh-feeling A-name

　　Blake—Singular sparkplug: the lovely Blake Lively

　　Briar*—An extraordinary leap of 597 places for this sweet fairy tale name

　　Clementine—Long loved on Nameberry, darling Clementine is now on the rise nationally

　　Elliott—A boy name on the upswing for girls but still holding its own for the blue team

　　Esme—French-accented name first made famous in a story by J.D. Salinger, up by 128 rankings; it’s 50 in England, 37 on Nameberry

　　Frankie*—Red hot boyish nickname name, favored by several celebs, starting with Drew Barrymore

　　Freya–Norse goddess name even more popular in Ireland, England and Scotland, where it’s #13

　　Gwen—Vintage short form up 213 places, with credit to high-profile singer Stefani

　　Hattie – Cute old-fashioned nickname first revived by Tori Spelling

　　Kensington*–A surprising surname boosted by two reality stars

　　Lennon—Beatles name growing for girls via YouTube star Lennon Stella

　　Lennox—Up a major 416 places for girls, while just rising 96 spots for boys

　　Luz*—Spanish name meaning light, shining now beyond Hispanic baby namers

　　Magnolia—Fragrant Southern flower name has climbed 197 places to #633

　　Margot—This is the winning version over the simpler Margo spelling, up 145 spots

　　Ophelia*—Once a Shakespearean no-no, Ophelia has risen into the Top 1000 and #30 on Nameberry

　　Remy —Solidly unisex, Remy is now #101 for girls, #161 for boys

　　River—Used increasingly for girls, propelled in part by Kelly Clarkson’s daughter

　　Rory—Charming Irish boy name rising for girls—one of many gender shares

　　Sutton—Surname popularized via Sutton Foster, star of TV hit _Younger (_based on the novel by my Nameberry co-creator Pamela Redmond Satran!)

　　Thea—Lovely Greek myth name that has jumped 312 spots to reach #464

　　Vienna*—Lyrical Continental place name joins cousin Sienna on the name map

　　Zelda*—A super high jumper—512 spots—indicating a glorious return after 50 years

　　BOYS

　　Achilles*–Classic Homeric Greek hero name hit the US Top 1000 this year

　　Atlas—Showed his super strength by climbing 149 places in a single bound

　　**Augustine—**Saintly member of the August–Augustus family rose 134 spots

　　Azariah—Biblical surprise moved up 100+ places for both boys and girls!

　　Beckham—UK sports legend’s name has now reached #359 in the US

　　Bodhi—Spiritual rising star given to almost a dozen starbabies

　　Cairo*–This exotic o-ending city name went up 164 places, is now in the Top 1000

　　Dash—Disney character + KarDASHians + Dashiell nickname =182-place rise

　　Denver*—Long-established place-name has a sudden surge of +155

　　Ford—Strong single-syllable surname used as a middle by Owen Wilson

　　Gordon-Scottish classic makes a bid to replace Jordan, reentered the list in 2014

　　Hendrix—Cool x-ending rocker name has just entered the Top 500

　　Huxley*—Distinguished family name is one of the steepest climbers–392 places

　　Lachlan—Another rising Scottish classic: Lachlan entered the US list in 2013

　　Legend–An evocative word name with ties to musician John: up 144 places to #392

　　Louie*–Surprise nickname comeback this year; even bigger in the UK at #67

　　Mack –After a long, deep dip, good guy Mack is back in town

　　Magnus—Powerful Latin name used by both Will Ferrell and Elizabeth Banks

　　Matteo—Represents the romantic Latin classics so popular with celebs

　　Otis*—O-name slateded for stardom, picked by Olivia Wilde +Jason Sudeikis

　　Ridge* –This strong, if not macho, word name ascended 204 places in 2015

　　Royal—This newly popular aspirational name zoomed up to #465

　　Theo—Handsome stand-alone nickname name entered the Top 500 this year

　　Tobias—On-trend s-ending Harry Potter choice often worn by TV characters

　　Wilder*–Wilder’s a winner—up a whopping 360 places in one year!