Parents Are Looking to 'Star Wars' Series for Inspiration for Baby Boy Names

Liam, Noah and Oliver are currently the most popular baby boy names in the United States, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA).
The SSA has also released a list of baby names that are rising fast in popularity.
International names and names drawn from pop culture are the biggest baby naming trends for boys.

If you look back at baby names over the past few decades, the rule of thumb used to be that boy names were relatively stable. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA) — which keeps track of these things, going back to the late 1800s — Michael was the most popular boy's name in the country from 1954 to 1998 (with a little blip in 1960 when David took the top spot for a year). That's 44 years of Michaels! After that, it was Jacob, which had a 13-year run from 1999 to 2012. (Thank you, Twilight.)

But things change more rapidly now. Since Jacob, Noah took the top spot for just four short years before it was dethroned. Liam has been the No. 1 name for the past three years, but will it stay there? Or will we cycle on to the next name — Oliver, William or Elijah perhaps, which currently round out the top five? Here, we examine the trends around current baby boy names for 2020, along with the SSA's current top 100 baby names for boys. (No boys? You can find the most popular baby names for girls, along with unisex and gender-neutral names.)

These boy names are poised to be huge in 2020.

Since the SSA gets a record of every new baby in the country, it has the most up-to-date information about the popularity of names. In addition to the list of most popular names, it also keeps tabs on which names are climbing the charts. These 10 baby boy names may not be as common as Liam or Noah yet, but they saw huge increases, and they are headed towards the top.

Sekani
Ermias
Amias
Kyro
Ambrose
Aziel
Eliel
Seven (George Costanza would be proud)
Atreus
Archie
Salem
Banks

It's clear that lots of parents are following in Silas's footsteps, choosing names that end in -ias. There's also a big pop-culture influence at work, since Archie is, of course, the most recent member of the royal family, and Banks is a name chosen by Hilary Duff (albeit for a daughter). And, for those hunting for gender-neutral names, Salem also ended up high on the list of fastest climbers for girls.

Boys names that had big decreases in popularity include Jaxtyn, Bryson, Chad, Bowie, Coen, Imran, Payton, Jaxen, Deshawn and Konnor, so expect fewer riffs on Jackson in the future.

International names are a big hit.

In addition to the SSA, baby-naming site Nameberry keeps track of interest in different baby names among its users. When it compiled its list of the most popular boy names for 2020, these rose to the top: Milo, Asher, Atticus, Oliver, Levi, Silas, Arlo, Leo, Theodore and Jasper. In addition, the site's list of "hottest" names — the ones that saw the biggest increase in lookups — included Enzo, Phoenix, Lucius, Kai, Hugo, Ezekiel, Caleb and Rowan.

If you look at the list, it's right in line with the trend of taking names borrowed from other countries. And it's not just one country, either: People are going for Italian/Spanish names like Luca and Mateo, Hebrew names like Asher or Ezekiel, or a Hawaiian name like Kai. Scandinavian names, in particular, are gaining ground, with names like Soren (also a Game of Thrones name), Axel, Leif and Stellan doing particularly well on the site. BabyCenter, which also keeps track of baby names among its users, notes that Arabic names like Muhammad are especially gaining ground — though it was a Latin name, Miles, that was the site's fastest climber last year.

Bachelor names are getting more popular.

BabyCenter also noted an uptick in lookups for names associated with The Bachelor — especially babies born to former Bachelor contestants. Brooks (born to Bachelor in Paradise stars Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert) was the big one, jumping up 18%, but Hayes (son of The Bachelor's Whitney Bischoff) and Cruz (middle name of Zander, the son of The Bachelorette stars Desiree Hartsock and Chris Siegfried) also saw jumps in popularity.

Nicknames are taking over.

Call it the Baby Archie effect, but parents are choosing the shortened version of some baby names over their longer counterparts. BabyCenter has seen a big bump in popularity for the nicknames Izzy (up 36%) and Ricky (up 25%), with Leo, Randy, Mickey, Kit, Ted, Frank, Theo, Joe, Ronnie, Frankie and Rudy not far behind.

These names haven't hit the list yet, but they will.

Nameberry came out with its own list of the 100 most popular lookups, and six of their names didn't appear in the SSA's list of the 1,000 most common names in the United States. This means the interest in these names is just starting to get going — and you can get in on the ground floor before they hit the big time. They are: Amias, Cassian, Kit, Aurelius, Caius and Ambrose.

BabyCenter saw an increase in interest in Cassian, too. That's a Star Wars name — he's one of the main characters in Rogue One, and soon to be the star of his own Disney+ series — so if you want to keep abreast of what names are coming down the pike, keep your eye on the galaxy far, far away. (Are "Mandalorian" or "Mando" going to pop?)

Another site, Names.org, which uses SSA data to predict the rise of baby names, thinks that Sebastian will hit the top 10 this year. It also sees big gains for Theodore, Hudson, Ezra, Santiago, Elias and Jack — all names that fit into the themes of borrowing from other cultures, using nicknames as full names, or — another big trend — bringing back "old man" names.