“Parents were more focused on freshness and originality than ever before, and surnames were the perfect solution: a whole realm of fresh names that didn't sound 'made up,' and that were familiar to spell and pronounce,” Wattenberg tells TODAY.com.
“You guys are always asking about our kids' names,” the video caption reads. “Let's just say ... we were never going to play it safe in the baby name department.” Wolfgang, 29 Wolfgang is the couple's oldest son. He was named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Cortney said in the video.
When Sophia Johnson and her husband, Tyler Troy, were expecting a third child, their friends suggested names like Grizzly and Third Street. Though the couple understood that such suggestions were a big joke among their friends, for them, naming their children after Berkeley streets was a tradition they took seriously. Berkeley has a wealth of lovely, old-fashioned names to be found on its street signs, said Johnson.
How do you honor the princely nature of having a new little boy in the family? Well, you can start by giving him a royal name, of course. Bestowing a monarchal moniker upon a newborn might seem like a daunting task. But in actuality, there are so many rulers all over the world with names that can serve as inspiration.
Some parents agonize over finding the perfect name for their baby, but one New Orleans mother loved her choice so much she gave it to all three of her triplets. The spark arrived during a late-night Instagram scroll, as Artisha Davis searched for names with meaningful roots. She stumbled upon "Daviane," a name she learned meant "beloved," and felt an immediate connection. From there, she created two variations -Davianna and Davian
TODAY's Craig Melvin, Sheinelle Jones and Al Roker, took a stab at guessing BabyCenter's No. 1 name, in honor of the 2025 list. While the co-hosts did not guess the top names, they said they weren't surprised. "We know a lot of Noahs," Sheinelle said. Olivia has been at No. 1 for six straight years and been a top 10 name in the U.S. since 2001, Craig said. "I think it's not coincidental. Did you ever read the Olivia books to your daughters, the little girl pig?" Al said.
DEAR ABBY: My longtime friend let's call her Cindy is six months pregnant and has started sharing name ideas with me. Cindy will hear a word she thinks sounds pretty and decide it will make a great name for her daughter, regardless of the meaning of the word. I had to beg her to stop considering Chlamydia as a name. She finally agreed after I repeatedly emphasized the bullying her daughter could receive over that name.
It's no doubt that your new baby is absolutely, positively, uniquely beyond beautiful. So, naturally, you need an appropriate name to match. While there is an endless amount of beautiful names out there, there are only some that, when translated into other languages or usages, actually mean "beautiful." For one of the more literal options, there's Jameela, which translates in Arabic to beautiful or lovely, and Bella/o, Italian for beautiful. Then, there's also Mei-lin, which can be translated to mean "beautiful forest,"
"There's a certain set of parents that believe weapons-inspired names have a renegade spirit, which has been a rising theme among today's trendy baby names," Kihm noted. "Maverick ranks higher than ever, and cowboy-style names like Dutton, Stetson and Boone are climbing the charts."
Some popular picks fall off the map, while others dip down to the bottom only to make a comeback later. And then there are the classics that remain popular to this day. Knowing the Social Security Administration's baby names database goes back to the 1880s, we decided to take a look at parents' choices 100 years ago to see which ones tanked and which have serious staying power.
'Bout 250 Mexican kids in 10 years gonna have to explain why they named Shohei Rodriguez,' one viral post on X quipped after Shohei Ohtani hit three home runs, pitched six shutout innings and struck out 10 Brewers in the NLCS-clinching game. The prediction may not be so far off: Nameberry, the world's largest baby naming site, saw a 1,000% increase in searches on the name Shohei just this week.
The couple announced the birth of their fourth child, a daughter, in a joint Instagram post Oct. 11. The announcement included a video montage of their daughter, featuring clips of Nara Smith cradling the newborn against her chest, Lucky Blue Smith cuddling with his daughter and an adorable shot of the couple's three older children marveling at their sibling. "she's here!" they captioned the post. "welcome to the world little angel." They did not share their daughter's name.
If you think about it, lots of popular baby names today are actually just words or names of other things - think River, Maverick, and Sage. Nature names, flower names, and virtue names are all super trendy right now, but they all fall under one larger category: word names for babies. And while all of the earthy names and animal-inspired monikers are beautiful, if you look outside those common categories, you'll find even more unique and meaningful word names for babies that will have people saying, "Oh, what a beautiful name," your baby's whole life through.
But it is surprising that two of the women (who happen to be best friends) gave their babies very similar names. Mikayla Matthews welcomed her fourth child, Lottie June, on July 17, and Mayci Neeley introduced her third child, Charli May, via Instagram on July 26. Notice any similarities? If not, we'll help connect the dots: Lottie and Charli are both nicknames for Charlotte, and their middle names are both spring months.
In order for something to be considered a main character baby name, it needs to have charisma - to make your little one sound like they could easily front a band, run the board room, or star in the show.
