At Nameberry, we use a combination of data and cultural information to identify current baby name trends and predict future ones. So for our 10th anniversary, we undertook the massive project of comparing how many babies in the US were given which names 10 years ago compared with today. Then we calculated which names had increase the most in usage, and from there extrapolated the five major naming trends of the decade.

　　All of these trends can be grouped under one massive overarching trend that defines the decade: the rise of baby names drawn from ideas, places, animals, occupations objects — pretty much anything EXCEPT babies.

　　Names that originated as cities (Brooklyn), colors (Hazel), flowers (Lily), gems (Ruby), seasons (Autumn), musical forms (Aria), and atmospheric phenomena (Aurora), have all risen into the Top 100 for girls over the past decade. The boys’ side is tamer, but Mason, an occupational name, is Number 7, and the rising popularity of names such as Hudson, Maverick, River and Remington also speaks to a desire to move beyond traditional names.

　　Here, the five hottest baby naming trends of the decade and the hottest names that exemplify each trend.

　　NATURE NAMES

　　One of the hottest categories of this megatrend is Nature Names, which relate to growing environmental consciousness and a desire to pick names that transcend traditional gender roles. The numerical notations — 12 times, for instance — refer to how many times more often the name is given now than it was a decade ago.

　　10 Hottest Nature Names

　　Sparrow — 18 times more popular now than 10 years ago

　　Nova — 18 times

　　Juniper – 12 times

　　Delta – 11 times

　　Marigold — 11 times

　　Cove — 11 times

　　Hawk — 9 times

　　Wilder — 8 times

　　Arbor — 8 times

　　Fern — 8 times

　　PLACE NAMES

　　Over the past decade, parents have shifted away from tried and true place names like Madison and Dakota and toward less likely locales, such as Cairo, the Bronx and the Caspian Sea. The name of any continent, country, city, neighborhood, mountain range, body of water, fort (we’re looking at you, Knox), or Ivy League College is up for grabs as a baby name.

　　10 Hottest Place Names

　　Bronx — 26 times

　　Knox – 26 times

　　Caspian — 15 times

　　Kyngston — 13 times

　　Lenox — 12 times

　　Kairo – 11 times

　　Oakland – 11 times

　　Bristol — 11 times

　　Princeton — 8 times

　　GOD NAMES

　　One of the biggest name stories of the decade was a judge ruling in Tennessee that a baby boy could not be named Messiah because “there’s only one.” That ruling was overturned, and in fact, ultimate God Name Messiah was given to nearly 2000 baby boys last year, four times as many as received the name a decade ago.

　　But that’s not enough of an increase to elevate Messiah to our list of 10 Hottest God Names. While more babies in sheer numbers may be named Messiah, the names of gods of Norse, Greek, and Roman mythology register the biggest increases in use over the past decade, as detailed below.

　　But not every divine name has flourished: Angel and Jesus both fell over 50 percent in the last decade.

　　10 Hottest God Names

　　Atlas — 30 times: In Greek mythology, the Titan who literally held the world on his shoulders

　　Mars — 10 times: Roman god of war, called Ares by the Greeks

　　Artemis – 9 times: Greek goddess of the hunt, the moon and virginity, called Diana by the Romans

　　Freya — 9 times: Norse goddess of love and war

　　Thea — 8 times: A variant of Theia, the Titan goddess of all that shines

　　Calliope – 7 times: Greek muse of poetry

　　Ariadne — 6 times: A Cretan princess and goddess best known for helping Theseus kill the terrifying Minotaur

　　Seraphina — 6 times: a lofty rank of Angel in Christian and Jewish theology

　　Ares — 5 times; Greek god of war whose name is used for the first astrological sign

　　Apollo — 5 times; The Greek god of the sun also rules music, art, poetry, and medicine

　　ROYAL NAMES

　　Another hot area, driven in part by celebrity baby name trends and perhaps related to the popularity of Game of Thrones, has been word names related to royalty, including Royalty itself, the hottest of the group. In 2007, a mere 11 girls were named Royalty. In 2017, 747 were – along with 43 boys.

　　The taste for royal names may also be inspired by this decade’s new generation of royal babies, but while George and Charlotte now have plenty of little namesakes, their sedate names are hardly the stuff of explosive trends. Plus, someone named George or Charlotte could be anything, while you can’t have any doubts about the royal image of a child named King.

　　10 Hottest Royal Names

　　Royalty — 71 times more popular

　　Kyng — 17 times

　　Knight — 9 times

　　Kaizer — 8 times

　　Majesty — 8 times

　　King — 7 times

　　Reign — 7 times

　　Pharaoh — 7 times

　　Royal — 7 times

　　Duke — 4 times

　　MODERN VIRTUE NAMES

　　You can think of Virtue Names as the first American crazy names, with the Puritans naming their children Patience, Silence, and Job-Raked-Out-of-the-Ashes (for real). A handful of these names, like Patience and Hope and Mercy, have not only survived but opened the door for a new generation of names that celebrate modern virtues. Silence, meet Savvy.

　　Modern Virtue Names like Loyalty might not feel that different from names like Royalty. But Royalty bespeaks a high-born position your child inherits, while Loyalty is a virtue you attach to your child’s personal brand, much like the earliest Virtue Names were meant to inspire exemplary behavior and warn against sin.

　　A lot to live up to? Maybe. But in this era of nursery schools that groom two-year-olds for Harvard and online rating systems for everything from Uber Drivers to, well, baby names, it might make sense to choose a name that gives your child a head start on greatness.

　　10 Hottest Modern Virtue Names

　　Loyalty – 29 times

　　Valor — 20 times

　　Legacy — 13 times

　　Legend — 13 times

　　Major – 10 times

　　Maverick — 9 times

　　Saint – 7 times

　　Savvy – 7 times

　　Rogue – 7 times

　　Leviathan – 6 times

　　Tomorrow, a look at the major name trends that defined each year of the decade.