“I consider myself fortunate not to be a lawyer, accountant, or in some other professional field,” remarks Peach Martine, a 23-year-old artist whose Instagram showcases a vibrant mix of faux fur and leopard-patterned ensembles. “Occasionally, people struggle to treat my name with the seriousness it deserves.” Initially, there are the playful remarks (“Is your sister called Papaya?”) followed by the inference that she must be “a little whimsical.” And don’t get her started about the Starbucks experience. “They consistently write Paige on the cup!”
However, Martine has no intention of altering her first name. She appreciates having a distinctive name. As a vocalist, she believes it has aided in enhancing her visibility. If she were to have kids, she would contemplate giving them unique names as well.
Martine is not the only one. As noted in a study analyzing 325 million American newborns from 1880 to 2007, there has been a consistent decline in the use of common names since 1983, with the most significant shifts occurring in the 1990s. In 2023, the latest year for published statistics, the UK’s Office for National Statistics revealed that 64,560 unique names were being registered annually – double the amount from 1999. This year, per the US parenting site and application BabyCenter, Juniper, Malachi, and Emersyn entered the top 100 names for the first time. In Japan, the explosion of unique names has prompted the government this year to enforce regulations on kirakira (sparkly or flashy) names, following backlash over parents naming their children after brands or famous figures, such as the Pokémon Pikachu, Naiki (Nike), and Pū (as in Winnie-the-Pooh), or other names like Akuma (Devil) that caught media attention.
What drives this trend? Some attribute it to celebrity influence. Apple, the child of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, is featured in a Gap fashion campaign alongside her mother. Pixie Geldof, offspring of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates, along with Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, Yates’s child with Michael Hutchence, later adopted by Geldof, have their own celebrity status. Furthermore, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s three kids: Riot, RZA, and Rocki; and rapper Cardi B’s daughter Kulture add to the list. Model Nara Smith recently announced on Instagram that baby Fawnie Golden has joined her family, which already includes Rumble Honey, Whimsy Lou, and Slim Easy. YouTuber Trisha Paytas welcomed Aquaman in July, joining her other children, Malibu Barbie and Elvis. And let’s not forget the birth of Elon Musk and singer Grimes’ first baby, X Æ A-12?
Regarding child naming, Kevin Schürer, a researcher at the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, states: “What we’ve genuinely observed over the past two decades is that anything is permissible. More individualistic names are emerging, whether by evolving traditional names through new spellings or by drawing from popular culture. The shift is away from using a fixed set of names.” The trend of naming children after godparents or relatives has waned since the 18th century in the UK, coinciding with increased mobility during the Industrial Revolution, leading parents to feel less bound by social norms and familial expectations. Today, parents opt for “names they appreciate because these names are visible on social media, TV, and various platforms,” Schürer mentions.
Names carry significance. Research indicates they can influence whom we date, student performance in university (students with surnames later in the alphabet were discovered to receive lower marks), and in China, it has been shown to affect the likelihood of engaging in criminal activity. In fact, a name’s importance has led to the emergence of a whole industry focused on name selection. Taylor Humphrey, who founded her company What’s in a Baby Name in 2015, charges over $1,500 for a list of potential names. For $30,000, she offers comprehensive “baby name branding.” Websites like Nameberry, My Name for Life, and Namerology guide parents on the principles of naming. On TikTok, influencer Emily Kim forecasts what celebrities and influencers will name their offspring and charges for her baby naming insights.
Duana Taha, author of The Name Therapist: How Growing Up With My Odd Name Taught Me Everything You Need to Know About Yours, posits that a name reflects less on the individual and more on those who chose it. “For instance, if someone is named Sarah, it’s a name that is quite standard and easily interpreted. It’s rooted in biblical tradition and literature. It’s straightforward, free of excess. Parents who select Sarah possibly hold certain values compared to those opting for something more elaborate, like Seraphina.”
Yet, Little Seraphina may emerge more assertive, according to Taha. If your name is uncommon: “You’re automatically attracting more attention than you might have chosen. That might be something I can articulate as an adult who has come to accept it, but it applies to three- and four-year-olds as well. They likely become accustomed to advocating for themselves and recognizing the something that distinguishes them.”
A study published in Strategic Management Journal in 2020, examining the names of CEOs from 1,172 public companies over 19 years, indicates that CEOs with uncommon names “tend to form a perception of being distinct from peers and subsequently pursue strategies that differ from industry standards.”
David Figlio, an economics professor at the University of Rochester in New York, investigated how names can influence schoolchildren’s outcomes in the early 2000s, stating: “Jews often mention that your name is your first gift.” His findings revealed that American boys with names perceived as more feminine (like Ashley or Courtney) were likelier to exhibit poor behavior once they reached sixth grade. Conversely, girls with more masculine names, like Morgan and Taylor, tended to engage in advanced studies in science and mathematics compared to their sisters with more feminine names such as Emma or Isabella.
“From early on, Isabella and Taylor were receiving divergent signals from all these societal influences around them, often without realizing it. Their parents picked up on those signals, too – and might not have been surprised when Taylor gravitated towards trucks and Isabella towards dolls,” Figlio remarks.
Even now, “a considerable majority of individuals on both sides of the Atlantic typically assign their children gender-specific names,” he states, though he suggests that the growing trend of girls receiving traditionally male names (like Taylor, inspired by a certain singer) has contributed to the increase in unconventional names. Parents are generally more eager to select an atypical name for their daughters, he notes, while often opting for conventional names for their sons. Nevertheless, “new names emerging in the naming landscape – like Kehlani, which is in the top 100 this year – typically signal a girl,” he observes. “We have become accustomed to linking certain linguistic traits with masculinity and femininity, even while both in the US and UK there’s a yearning for uniqueness.”
Could a name shape your future? In 1985, Belgian psychologist Jozef Nuttin uncovered that individuals exhibited a bias towards letters present in their first or last names. Dubbed the name-letter effect, it emerged from “implicit egotism,” the unconscious inclination towards things associated with oneself. This leads to “nominative determinism,” a concept popularized by a column in the New Scientist in 1994, potentially elucidating why Sara Blizzard – a BBC weather presenter – gravitated towards her profession; Chris Moneymaker became a renowned poker player; Ellie Cook is a pastry chef, and Mr. David Limb is an orthopaedic surgeon.
Limb, along with his sons Richard and Christopher, who also pursued careers in medicine, published a short paper in 2015 about this phenomenon after receiving remarks about their names in professional settings. From a total of 313,445 names in the UK medical register, they determined the median occurrence of names relevant to the medical field was 1 in 149, with names directly associated with their specializations at a frequency of 1 in 486. In urology, names included Burns, Cox, Dick, Koch, Balluch, Ball, and Waterfall. In obstetrics and gynaecology, there were New, Bourne, and Child. Dr. Pain was the most common name in general surgery “but thankfully not Dr. Handslip,” the paper mentions.
In the kitchens of the Ettington Park hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon where Ellie Cook is employed, not a day passes without someone referencing the connection between her name and her job. Her front-of-house staff inform customers that the food is especially good because she was destined for this role. “I used to teach at Le Cordon Bleu and the students found humor in it,” she recalls.
Cook hails from Solihull in the Midlands, where she baked with her mother as a child. She left nursing to attend culinary school, aspiring to open an ice cream shop someday. “Perhaps there was a subconscious pull,” reflects the 33-year-old, whose great-aunt (with the last name Cook) provided meals to soldiers during World War II. “I guess if the name has family origins, there’s a genetic aspect to it.”
Surnames originated as populations expanded in the Middle Ages to differentiate between individuals sharing common first names, primarily for tax collection purposes in England. This coincided with the recording of first names as well. The earliest poll tax records from 1377 to 1381 mark the first documented English names and reflect a preference for West Germanic and Frankish names, as well as Christian saints’ names, introduced into England mostly after 1066, such as John, William, Thomas, Alice, Agnes, and Joan. With the Reformation in the early 17th century, there emerged a preference for biblical names like Elizabeth, Mary, and Anne, along with later Puritan names like Faith, Hope, and Love (and some more unusual: Helpless, DieWell, and FearNot) in the latter half of the century.
Names can reveal much regarding someone’s social standing and identity – as well as our own biases. Caoimhe (pronounced Keeva) McMonagle, a 26-year-old, never considered her name noteworthy until she moved from Northern Ireland to Manchester a year ago. She recently shared on TikTok some of the negative reactions she faced, especially from men during nights out, who questioned: “What sort of name is that?” and “That’s invented.” McMonagle mentions she hasn’t encountered problems in her job – as an anti-money laundering analyst – and takes pride in her name. “I’m genuinely proud to be Irish,” she affirms.
Names from diverse backgrounds can significantly shape careers. A 2023 study from King’s College London, conducted in Australia, generated over 12,000 fictitious CVs responding to 4,000 job postings. All CVs were uniform, except for name alterations representing six distinct ethnic groups: Arabic, Australian Aboriginal, Chinese, English, Greek, and Indian. The applications spanned 12 different job categories. The findings were striking. For managerial positions, 26.8% of applications submitted with English names received favorable responses, versus only 11.3% for those with non-English names. “By rejecting individuals based on their names rather than qualifications and experience, businesses are violating anti-discrimination laws and hindering their chances of finding suitable candidates,” noted the study’s author.
No names are outright banned in the UK; however, the UK Deed Poll Office has disallowed names believed to subject children to ridicule, including Martian, King, Princess, and Monkey. In 2016, the Court of Appeal ruled against a mother in Wales who wished to name one of her twins Cyanide, after the toxic substance. In Germany, names like Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden are prohibited; the US has 11 banned names including Jesus Christ and Santa Claus, while Malaysia excludes plants, fruits, vegetables, animals, and insects from registrable names. An Australian journalist once managed to name her child Methamphetamine Rules to challenge the nation’s regulations.
Changing your name is certainly an option. Surprisingly, it is classic names like James and Elizabeth that people are moving away from, not the more unconventional ones. Rebecca, Thomas, Muhammad, and David rank among the top 10 most altered names, replaced by Liam, Riley, Kayleigh, and Remiel, based on research from MyNamesTags, which examined over 14,000 name changes via Deed Poll over the past five years. Some individuals adapt their names to reflect their cultural or religious identities, while others may select a name that aligns with their gender identity. In 2025, one legal deed poll provider noted that one in six all applications were from individuals changing their name to live “more authentically.” Some even maintain ties to their original names, such as actor Elliot Page. However, this trend has not surfaced in the UK, where nearly 70% of applicants opt for new names that begin with different letters.
Regardless of the reason, the rise of unique names appears destined to endure. Peach Martine believes this trend won’t alter anytime soon. “We grew up with an array of fascinating names in literature and television, so I would be taken aback if Gen Z didn’t continue the custom of naming their children after characters from popular series.” She has noticed a trend toward number names, possibly influenced by the character Eleven from the Netflix show Stranger Things. Names such as Four or Six could modernize lineage, honoring relatives, indicating birth order, and connecting to culture, according to Nameberry. They just need to brace themselves for people’s responses. “At times, it’s quite charming,” says Martine, “but at other moments, people make jokes. After 23 years of having this name, I’ve endured more than 20 years of jokes.”
