The Ins & Outs Of Baby Names
Just like pop songs, baby names have their own yearly charts which name nerds keep track of. Examining name trend cycles can tell us a lot about society: what we value, what expectations we have for our children, and what we're watching on streaming. Let's look at some names set to rise and fall in 2026.
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1. Nick
As a new generation has children, so too do they pass on nostalgia for their childhoods. 1980s nostalgia is out and 1990s/2000s nostalgia is in, especially where boy bands are concerned. Nick, meaning "victory of the people" is the quintessential boy band name between Nick Carter, Nick Lachey, and Nick Jonas.
2. Sienna
While the cottagecore movement may have hit its peak in 2020, nature-inspired names like Juniper and Rowan are still making a major splash. Named for a reddish-brown pigment essential in Renaissance art, Sienna combines cottagecore vibes with a similar sound to Sophia. Expect to see lots of Siennas in 2026.
3. Jude
Arguably the name of one of the best Beatles songs, Jude has been a mainstay of the 2020s. The 156th most popular name for boys in 2024, Jude's wistful and emotional vibes were up four spots from the previous year. This Hebrew name means "praise".
4. Susanna
Susanna—and all variant spellings—hits two major trends we expect to see more of in 2026: television influence from The Summer I Turned Pretty and cowboy cool, inspired by Beyoncé's revolutionary album, Cowboy Carter. Susanna is another Biblical name, derived from Shoshana, meaning "lotus flower".
5. Arlo
This 16th century name has a hip and breezy feel that's poised to make a big splash in 2026. Arlo means "endless energy" and was first used in the poem The Faerie Queene. While Arlo is primarily a feminine name across the pond, it's more popular with boys stateside, possibly due to connections to folk singer Arlo Guthrie.
6. Romy
Not to be confused with a similar name a few spots down, Romy has been traditionally used as a nickname for Rosemary. Romy has an effortlessly cool "French girl" sort of vibe that has been all the rage in recent years. In 2024, Romy was hanging onto its #926 spot in the Top 1000 names—the first time it charted in a century.
7. Callum
As we will see later on in this list, rough and tumble boy names are on their way out, while softer names are in. Callum, meaning "dove" has a tranquil sound that can be shortened to the more cowboy chic "Cal". Hopefully any baby with this name is as peaceful as his namesake.
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8. Rumi
KPop Demon Hunters was a runaway success both with its target audience of youngsters and their parents. While you can expect to see a crop of Miras and Zoeys running around the playground in a few years, Rumi was a clear fan favorite. This name has two main meanings: "beauty" and the gemstone "lapis lazuli".
9. Lance
Remember what we said about boy band nostalgia? Well, the boy band stan wars of the 1990s are still alive today with Lance representing NSYNC to Nick's Backstreet Boys. Meaning "spear" this name is holding steady towards the bottom of the SSA name charts and is expected to climb.
10. Helena
Media taste influences naming habits, and 2025 was a wonderful year for television. While The White Lotus and The Pitt offer a ton of name suggestions with their ensemble casts, Severance has a more straightforward contender: Helena. Helena means "light" and has been steadily climbing the name charts since 2020.
Now that we've looked at some names that are expected to make it big in 2026, let's look at a few that are falling in popularity.
1. Cassian
Cassian and other romantasy-inspired names with ethereal meanings are big in 2025. However, these names run the risk of oversaturation, especially with the romantasy tide shifting away from Sarah J. Mass-inspired fae to dragons, knights, and wolves. Cassian peaked in 2023 and started falling the following year.
2. Amelia
One of the most popular names of the 20th century, Amelia is a Roman name meaning "active". While we don't expect this name to plummet, we are seeing terminal levels of "Amelia-fication". The third most popular name in the country, it can be difficult for a child to develop an identity when she's "Amelia #4" in the classroom.
3. Remington
As we said earlier, uber-macho baby names have had their moment in the sun. Remington, meaning "settlement by the stream" is the first mega-masculine name on this list but not the last. In a world where gun violence towards children is increasingly common, naming your child after a rifle company is in bad taste.
4. Emma
Speaking of extraordinarily popular names, Emma has been the #2 name for girls since 2019. While we still think the current most popular name, Olivia, has a few more years left, Emma is to the 2020s, what Emily was to the 1990s/2000s. Fittingly, this overused name means "universal".
5. Kai
Rhyming with "eye", Kai was one of the most popular names in the first half of the decade. Gender-neutral, easy to spell, and relatively easy to say, Kai hit a lot of major naming trends. Unfortunately, the tide seems to have shifted on this name, which has been slowly falling in popularity.
6. Ophelia
You would think that given the release of a single by a certain billionaire popstar that this name, a literary alternative to Olivia, would be poised for success. However, the associations with this name aren't exactly positive. Besides, within a year, Taylor Swift will have a new album out, and the zeitgeist will be over.
7. Jayden
Names ending in the popular "aden" suffix such as Brayden, Hayden, Aiden, and—yes—Jayden were inescapable in the early 2010s. Since reaching its' peak, this name has gradually fallen in the ensuing decade. There are only so many ways you can spell Jayden before it no longer feels customized.
8. Leila
We're using Leila as a stand-in for other Leila-adjacent names, such as Lily and Leliana Leila, and all its' variant spellings comes from the Arabic word for "night". While this is a lovely name, and we don't expect to see any decline among Arab families, this name is no longer unique.
9. Bronson
Bronson is a perfect storm of late 2010s/early 2020s naming trends: surnames-as-first-names, rugged baby names, and the -son suffix also seen in Jackson and Tyson. Names such as Bronson which adhere so rigidly to certain trends, can leave children feeling boxed in by parental expectations.
10. Sophia
Sophia and alternate spelling Sofia claim spots 6 and 10 on the SSA's most recent list of baby names. Like several other names on this list, Sophia doesn't feel outdated so much as it feels tired as a trend. The most popular name from 2011 to 2013, this Greek name meaning "wisdom" has been falling ever since.
