Pop stars and top athletes used to be an inspiration for new baby names, but nowadays influencers, well-known names from the world of social media, are gaining ground. Since influencer couple Famke Louise and Denzel Slager named their daughter Nówie, the name has increased in popularity by 500 percent.
Webshop Made for Moments, specialized in birth announcements, conducted research into the baby names of influencers in 2023. The number of girls who will go through life as Nówie increased fivefold and is the leader. The name Revi, son of YouTuber Rebecca Denise, is in second place and increased by 371 percent. Mylo (son of Tess Mulder) and Coco (daughter of Elise Boers) are also really into this year.
The British royals William and Kate are also influential in this respect: the name of their son George increased by 248 percent in the Netherlands.
People more often choose the names of influencers instead of those of pop stars or sports stars, the research makes clear. First name expert Gerrit Bloothooft (Utrecht University) explains that parents can get their inspiration for baby names from anywhere. “They follow people on social media, they see famous characters from movies or they see celebrities on TV. Influencers have squeezed in.”
A well-known influencer can give that extra push, says Bloothooft. “Wendy van Dijk named her son Sem. She inspired about two hundred other parents to also give that name. Sem was already a rising name, but the presenter gave an extra boost. That is the effect of the media.”
When singer Anouk has scored another big hit, additional Anouks are born
Bram, Anouk and Britney Spears
There are more examples. ,,In Good times Bad Times a Bram was born, after which dozens of additional Brammjes were registered at the civil registry. When singer Anouk has scored another big hit, additional Anouks will be born,” says Bloothooft.
In general, (social) media personalities lead to an increase of several dozen namings, says the expert. They are rarely permanent trendsetters. Britney Spears was an exception. In the year 2000 she broke through with the world hit Baby one more time and that had consequences for the babies born at that time. Bloothooft: “About two hundred Britneys were added that year.”
Role models
It has always been the case that we are inspired by role models, says media psychologist Mischa Coster. “Influencers have an exemplary role. We see them as experts in the field of lifestyle because of the large numbers of followers they have. The fact that an influencer knows something is confirmed by the 60,000 followers. When they see their nice baby names, it is not surprising that they also choose them.”
The phenomenon is extra noticeable because influencers and celebrities often choose special and unique names. Think of the children of influencer Kylie Jenner and singer Travis Scott: Stormi and Aire Webster. Or Elon Musk and singer Grimes who named their son X Æ A-12. Coster: “Influencers spend a lot of time on marketing and sales. They show a lot of their private lives and there is a lot of competition there. Their lives must therefore be as distinctive as possible, just like the names of their children.”
The top names of 2023 are not yet known, but they will not differ much from those of 2022, Bloothooft thinks. “The rule is that every year one disappears from the top and one is added. So you would have to wait twenty years for a new top 20.” Baby names Noah and Emma will therefore remain popular in our country for a long time.
What do first names mean?
The fact that names say something about our place of residence has faded, says first name expert Gerrit Bloothooft. “For that we have to go back a hundred years, when there were still regional names.” Jep(pe) is a typical Frisian name, but is now used in every province. The expert explains that a name is linked to the environment and the social group in which you live. “For example, this is decisive for Arabic names, such as Mohammed and Aisha. It is immediately clear which group you belong to.”
Names mainly say something about your parents, says Bloothooft. “Higher educated parents often attach more value to the Dutch language and culture. They then choose names that have been used in our society for some time, such as Emma and Julia. You see the opposite among parents of less educated people. “They switch more easily to a name from another language, especially English, names that we get to know through social media and television.”
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