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* Creator/ScarlettJohansson did this for [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/scarlett/top/ her name,]] the first rise coming in the mid-'00s with her StarMakingRole in ''Film/LostInTranslation'' and a second, much bigger rise coming in the 2010s when she was cast as ComicBook/BlackWidow starting with ''Film/IronMan2''. Since 2015, "Scarlett" has been among the 25 most popular girl's names in the US.
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* Creator/ScarlettJohansson did this for [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/scarlett/top/ her name,]] name]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/scarlet/top/ variations]] [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/scarlette/top/ thereof,]] the first rise coming in the mid-'00s with her StarMakingRole in ''Film/LostInTranslation'' and a second, much bigger rise coming in the 2010s when she was cast as ComicBook/BlackWidow starting with ''Film/IronMan2''. Since 2015, "Scarlett" has been among the 25 most popular girl's names in the US.
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* The popularity of Creator/BenedictCumberbatch in the US was strong enough that it was able to overcome the revulsion that Americans have historically had towards his first name [[BabyNameTrendKiller thanks]] to UsefulNotes/BenedictArnold. In 2018, shortly after Cumberbatch played the title character in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', the name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/benedict/top "Benedict"]] re-entered the list of the top 1,000 boy's names in the US for the first time since 1968. What makes it especially notable is that Cumberbatch is a British actor, and Arnold infamously betrayed the US for the British during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution.
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* The name "Jordan" steadily [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/jordan/top/united-states rose in popularity]] for boys (and even girls to a lesser extent) in the 80's and 90's due to meteoric rise of UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan from college basketball star to NBA legend.
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* The name "Jordan" steadily [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/jordan/top/united-states rose grew in popularity]] for boys (and even girls to a lesser extent) in the 80's and 90's due to the meteoric rise of UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan from college basketball star to NBA legend.
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* The name "Jordan" steadily [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/jordan/top/united-states rose in popularity]] for boys (and even girls to a lesser extent) in the 80's and 90's due to meteoric rise of Creator/MichaelJordan from college basketball star to NBA legend.
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* The name "Jordan" steadily [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/jordan/top/united-states rose in popularity]] for boys (and even girls to a lesser extent) in the 80's and 90's due to meteoric rise of Creator/MichaelJordan UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan from college basketball star to NBA legend.
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* The name "Jordan" steadily [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/jordan/top/united-states rose in popularity]] for boys (and even girls to a lesser extent) in the 80's and 90's due to meteoric rise of Creator/MichaelJordan from college basketball star to NBA legend.
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* R&B singer Music/{{Aaliyah}} caused her name to suddenly explode in popularity in the mid-'90s, along with its many variations. The name had originated in the Middle East (deriving from the Arabic ''`Aliya[='=]'', which is, roughly, the feminine form of ''`Ali'' and means "elevated," "exalted," or "noble") but became more associated with the African American and Latino communities after the popularity of the singer. The name spiked in popularity in 2001 after her untimely death.
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* R&B singer Music/{{Aaliyah}} caused her name to suddenly explode in popularity in the mid-'90s, along with its many variations. The name had originated in the Middle East (deriving from the Arabic ''`Aliya[='=]'', which is, roughly, the feminine form of ''`Ali'' and means "elevated," "exalted," or "noble") but became more associated with the African American and Latino communities after the popularity of the singer. The name spiked saw a second, minor spike in popularity 1997 after the release of her second album the year before, and as you might imagine, her death in 2001 after her untimely death.caused a '''massive''' spike in popularity.
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* Another tennis example, with a kind of racial twist to pepper it. While the [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues celtic Breton]] name Yannick (one of the variations for the Breton stand-in for Jean [John]) was never rare but mostly confined to its area of origin of Brittany, [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yannick_Noah Yannick Noah]]'s victory at the 1983 French's Grand Slam tournament (Roland-Garros), the first one for a Frenchman there since roughly 70 years, immediately made it fashionable all around France. And as Yannick Noah is visibly half-Black (while his mother was from Britanny, hence the first name), the given name Yannick also became fashionable amongst French Black people, and still is.
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* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/jayden/top "Jayden",]] a name that was practically unheard of before TheNineties, skyrocketed in popularity after 1998 when Jaden Smith was born, peaking in 2010 as the fourth most popular boy's name.
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* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/jayden/top "Jayden",]] a name that was practically unheard of before TheNineties, The90s, skyrocketed in popularity after 1998 when Jaden Smith was born, peaking in 2010 as the fourth most popular boy's name.
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* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/ryan/top/ "Ryan"]] exploded as a boy's name in TheSeventies after Creator/RyanONeal starred in ''Film/LoveStory'', which (as noted above) did the same to "Jennifer" as a girl's name.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/drew/top "Drew"]] took off first as a boy's name in TheEighties, then had a smaller boom as a girl's name in TheNineties, thanks to Creator/DrewBarrymore.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/drew/top "Drew"]] took off first as a boy's name in TheEighties, then had a smaller boom as a girl's name in TheNineties, thanks to Creator/DrewBarrymore.
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* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/ryan/top/ "Ryan"]] exploded as a boy's name in TheSeventies The70s after Creator/RyanONeal starred in ''Film/LoveStory'', which (as noted above) did the same to "Jennifer" as a girl's name.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/drew/top "Drew"]] took off first as a boy's name inTheEighties, The80s, then had a smaller boom as a girl's name in TheNineties, The90s, thanks to Creator/DrewBarrymore.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/drew/top "Drew"]] took off first as a boy's name in
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* Since TheNineties, [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/keanu/top "Keanu"]] has been a not-uncommon boy's name thanks to the actor Creator/KeanuReeves. (It's Hawaiian for "cool breeze", appropriately enough given that Reeves' father is from UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}}.) It enjoyed a revival in the mid-2010s hand-in-hand with Reeves' CareerResurrection thanks to ''Film/JohnWick''.
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* Since TheNineties, The90s, [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/keanu/top "Keanu"]] has been a not-uncommon boy's name thanks to the actor Creator/KeanuReeves. (It's Hawaiian for "cool breeze", appropriately enough given that Reeves' father is from UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}}.) It enjoyed a revival in the mid-2010s hand-in-hand with Reeves' CareerResurrection thanks to ''Film/JohnWick''.
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* Layne Staley of Music/AliceInChains gave a boost to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/layne/top "Layne"]] as a boy's name in TheNineties. His death from a heroin overdose in 2002 created a second boom that year, and since then it's had a comfortable baseline of popularity due to his status as rock royalty.
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* Layne Staley of Music/AliceInChains gave a boost to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/layne/top "Layne"]] as a boy's name in TheNineties.The90s. His death from a heroin overdose in 2002 created a second boom that year, and since then it's had a comfortable baseline of popularity due to his status as rock royalty.
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* In TheSeventies, the band Music/CaptainAndTennille caused a lot of parents to name their daughters [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/tennille/top "Tennille"]] after their female singer.
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* In TheSeventies, The70s, the band Music/CaptainAndTennille caused a lot of parents to name their daughters [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/tennille/top "Tennille"]] after their female singer.
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** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/woodrow/top "Woodrow"]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/wilson/top "Wilson"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson in 1912. While they remained popular through the decade, conservative backlash against Wilson's economic and foreign policy during TheRoaringTwenties caused them to quickly fall off.
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** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/woodrow/top "Woodrow"]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/wilson/top "Wilson"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson in 1912. While they remained popular through the decade, conservative backlash against Wilson's economic and foreign policy during TheRoaringTwenties TheRoaring20s caused them to quickly fall off.
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** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/franklin/top "Franklin"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt in 1932, with "Roosevelt" also getting a renewed bump. This one remained popular well into TheForties as FDR led the country through the Depression and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/truman/top "Truman"]] after UsefulNotes/HarryTruman ascended to the Presidency in 1945 following FDR's death. This one fell off in popularity in TheFifties as he was dragged down by his increasingly unpopular handling of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. It still pops up in Truman’s home state of Missouri, due to the amount of things there that are named after him.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/truman/top "Truman"]] after UsefulNotes/HarryTruman ascended to the Presidency in 1945 following FDR's death. This one fell off in popularity in TheFifties as he was dragged down by his increasingly unpopular handling of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. It still pops up in Truman’s home state of Missouri, due to the amount of things there that are named after him.
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** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/franklin/top "Franklin"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt in 1932, with "Roosevelt" also getting a renewed bump. This one remained popular well into TheForties The40s as FDR led the country through the Depression and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/truman/top "Truman"]] after UsefulNotes/HarryTruman ascended to the Presidency in 1945 following FDR's death. This one fell off in popularity inTheFifties The50s as he was dragged down by his increasingly unpopular handling of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. It still pops up in Truman’s home state of Missouri, due to the amount of things there that are named after him.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/truman/top "Truman"]] after UsefulNotes/HarryTruman ascended to the Presidency in 1945 following FDR's death. This one fell off in popularity in
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** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/reagan/top/united-states "Reagan"]] was virtually unheard of as a first name in the United States before UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan became a prominent political leader. After his Presidency, "Reagan" became a trendy name for baby girls, likely spurred by Republican parents wishing to honor the president they admired so much. During The90s, the TurnOfTheMillennium, and TheNewTens, it was fairly common to meet young girls named Reagan in conservative states. It also was used as a boy's name among the same crowd (albeit less frequently), with the popularity of "Reagan" as a male name peaking in 2004, the year Ronald Reagan died.
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** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/reagan/top/united-states "Reagan"]] was virtually unheard of as a first name in the United States before UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan became a prominent political leader. After his Presidency, "Reagan" became a trendy name for baby girls, likely spurred by Republican parents wishing to honor the president they admired so much. During The90s, the TurnOfTheMillennium, and TheNewTens, TheNew10s, it was fairly common to meet young girls named Reagan in conservative states. It also was used as a boy's name among the same crowd (albeit less frequently), with the popularity of "Reagan" as a male name peaking in 2004, the year Ronald Reagan died.
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** While the German automaker Mercedes-Benz had been selling cars in the US since 1958, it was only in TheEighties when they dethroned a [[AudienceAlienatingEra malaise-era]] Cadillac as the premier luxury automaker in the minds of many Americans. Hence why [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/mercedes/top "Mercedes"]] took off as a name for baby girls during that time, as the automaker gave it an aura of poshness. In a way, the name came full-circle, as Mercedes-Benz founder Emil Jellinek named the brand after his daughter[[note]]The name's original meaning is an epithet for the Virgin Mary: "Our Lady of Mercies"[[/note]].
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** While the German automaker Mercedes-Benz had been selling cars in the US since 1958, it was only in TheEighties The80s when they dethroned a [[AudienceAlienatingEra malaise-era]] Cadillac as the premier luxury automaker in the minds of many Americans. Hence why [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/mercedes/top "Mercedes"]] took off as a name for baby girls during that time, as the automaker gave it an aura of poshness. In a way, the name came full-circle, as Mercedes-Benz founder Emil Jellinek named the brand after his daughter[[note]]The name's original meaning is an epithet for the Virgin Mary: "Our Lady of Mercies"[[/note]].
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* The tragic and sudden early death of Creator/RiverPhoenix in 1993 caused the name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/river/top "River"]] to enter the top 1,000 boy's names for the first time the following year, as many parents named their sons in tribute to a talented actor taken too soon (especially one who, before his fatal overdose, was not widely known to have drug problems). As noted above, it has continued to rise since then.
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* The tragic and sudden early death of Creator/RiverPhoenix in 1993 caused the name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/river/top "River"]] to enter the top 1,000 boy's names for the first time the following year, as many parents named their sons in tribute to a talented actor taken too soon (especially one who, before his fatal overdose, was not widely known to have drug problems). As noted above, on the main page, it has continued to rise since then.
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* Creator/ScarlettJohansson did this for [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/scarlett/top/ her name,]] the first rise coming in the mid-'00s with her StarMakingRole in ''Film/LostInTranslation'' and a second, much bigger rise coming in the 2010s when she was cast as ComicBook/BlackWidow starting with ''Film/IronMan2''. Since 2015, "Scarlett" has been among the 25 most popular girl's names in the US.
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* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/reagan/top/united-states "Reagan"]] was virtually unheard of as a first name in the United States before UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan became a prominent political leader. After his Presidency, "Reagan" became a trendy name for baby girls, likely spurred by Republican parents wishing to honor the president they admired so much. During The90s, the TurnOfTheMillenium, and TheNewTens, it was fairly common to meet young girls named Reagan in conservative states. It also was used as a boy's name among the same crowd (albeit less frequently), with the popularity of "Reagan" as a male name peaking in 2004, the year Ronald Reagan died.
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* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/reagan/top/united-states "Reagan"]] was virtually unheard of as a first name in the United States before UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan became a prominent political leader. After his Presidency, "Reagan" became a trendy name for baby girls, likely spurred by Republican parents wishing to honor the president they admired so much. During The90s, the TurnOfTheMillenium, and TheNewTens, it was fairly common to meet young girls named Reagan in conservative states. It also was used as a boy's name among the same crowd (albeit less frequently), with the popularity of "Reagan" as a male name peaking in 2004, the year Ronald Reagan died.
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** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/truman/top "Truman"]] after UsefulNotes/HarryTruman ascended to the Presidency in 1945 following FDR's death. This one fell off in popularity in TheFifties as he was dragged down by his increasingly unpopular handling of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. It’s still pops up in Truman’s home state of Missouri, due to the amount of things there that are named after him.
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** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/truman/top "Truman"]] after UsefulNotes/HarryTruman ascended to the Presidency in 1945 following FDR's death. This one fell off in popularity in TheFifties as he was dragged down by his increasingly unpopular handling of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. It’s It still pops up in Truman’s home state of Missouri, due to the amount of things there that are named after him.
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Growing up in the Kansas City area, I’ve ran into my fair share of men named Truman.
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** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/truman/top "Truman"]] after UsefulNotes/HarryTruman ascended to the Presidency in 1945 following FDR's death. This one fell off in popularity in TheFifties as he was dragged down by his increasingly unpopular handling of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar.
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** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/truman/top "Truman"]] after UsefulNotes/HarryTruman ascended to the Presidency in 1945 following FDR's death. This one fell off in popularity in TheFifties as he was dragged down by his increasingly unpopular handling of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. It’s still pops up in Truman’s home state of Missouri, due to the amount of things there that are named after him.
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* Happened with [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/serena/top "Serena"]] in the '90s thanks to the tennis phenom Serena Williams.
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* The Hollywood debut of Creator/MargotRobbie caused [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/margot/top her name]] to shoot up in popularity in the 2010s. Before, it had been a French version of "Margaret" that was uncommon in the Anglosphere, and more often than not spelled [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/margo/top "Margo"]] (which had a similar rise) when it was used.
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Examples of BabyNameTrendStarter regarding RealLife people.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Actors]]
* The name "Emma" was already rising in popularity, but jumped ([[https://www.behindthename.com/name/emma/top from thirteenth to fourth place]] in the States) upon the release of ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' with Creator/EmmaWatson. Since then, it has never been out of the top four and was at #1 in 2008 and from 2014 through '18.
* Thanks to Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', there were spikes in popularity of the name Nichelle as a baby name.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/jayden/top "Jayden",]] a name that was practically unheard of before TheNineties, skyrocketed in popularity after 1998 when Jaden Smith was born, peaking in 2010 as the fourth most popular boy's name.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/owen/top "Owen"]] boomed in popularity after Creator/OwenWilson starred in ''Film/{{Anaconda}}'' and ''Film/Armageddon1998''. As of 2019, it's in the top 30 baby names.
* The name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/emilia/top/ "Emilia"]], once a fairly obscure variant on "Emily", has surged in popularity thanks to the increasing popularity of the actress Creator/EmiliaClarke.
* "Liam", an Irish variant of "William", was unheard of in the US until 1994, when it entered the top 1000 baby names, thanks to the release of ''Film/SchindlersList'', featuring Irish heartthrob Creator/LiamNeeson. It would skyrocket to number 2 on the list in 2013, thanks to ''Film/TheHungerGames'' star Creator/LiamHemsworth.
* In Brazil, ever since a famous actor couple named their son "Enzo" in the late '90s, [[https://veja.abril.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/enzo-ibge.jpg?quality=70&strip=info&w=650 the name skyrocketed in popularity]] -- "Enzo Gabriel" in particular became the most common composite name in 2009, and outright male name in 2018! A [[https://imgsapp.em.com.br/app/noticia_127983242361/2017/11/28/920209/20171128143725278123a.jpg kindergarten class]] featuring ''seven'' "Enzos" went viral, and the name is now memetic as a trendy baby name (for single moms in particular; the female equivalent is "Valentina", which took off without a clear reason). Like "Karen", "Becky", and "Chad", it is also an online slang term: say "Enzos", and others will know you're talking about the current teenage populace in [[LowerClassLout a demeaning way]].
* Shortly after Darla Hood became one of ''Film/TheLittleRascals'' in 1935/36, parents all over the country were naming their baby girls "Darla".
* Tends to happen from time to time with popular ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' cast members. For example, the names "Victoria" and "Maya" increased in popularity after Victoria Jackson and Creator/MayaRudolph became regulars on the show.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/ryan/top/ "Ryan"]] exploded as a boy's name in TheSeventies after Creator/RyanONeal starred in ''Film/LoveStory'', which (as noted above) did the same to "Jennifer" as a girl's name.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/drew/top "Drew"]] took off first as a boy's name in TheEighties, then had a smaller boom as a girl's name in TheNineties, thanks to Creator/DrewBarrymore.
* The girl's name [[https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi "Alyssa"]] had a rapid rise in popularity in the mid-1980s, following Creator/AlyssaMilano's StarMakingRole on ''Series/WhosTheBoss''. It went from being ranked at 230 in popularity for girls in 1982 to number 27 in 1990. It dropped slightly, but then saw another boost in the late '90s and early '00s, where it was solidly in the top 15 names for girls from 1997 to 2004, which coincides neatly with her appearance on ''Series/Charmed1998''.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/millie/top/ "Millie",]] a diminutive of "Mildred" or "Millicent", started skyrocketing as a girl's name in the US in the late 2010s, hitting the top 200 by 2020, thanks to Creator/MillieBobbyBrown's StarMakingRole on ''Series/StrangerThings''. There wasn't a similar boost in the UK or the rest of the English-speaking world despite Brown being English herself, possibly because, in those countries, the name had already been a popular choice since the 2000s.
* "Olivia" became a popular name after Creator/OliviaDeHavilland starred in ''Film/CaptainBlood''.
* [[https://nameberry.com/babyname/annette "Annette"]] boomed in popularity in the 1950s when Creator/AnnetteFunicello starred in ''Series/TheMickeyMouseClub''.
* The tragic and sudden early death of Creator/RiverPhoenix in 1993 caused the name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/river/top "River"]] to enter the top 1,000 boy's names for the first time the following year, as many parents named their sons in tribute to a talented actor taken too soon (especially one who, before his fatal overdose, was not widely known to have drug problems). As noted above, it has continued to rise since then.
* After ''Series/Roots1977'' premiered, many parents named their sons [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/levar/top/ "Levar"]] after Creator/LeVarBurton, who played Kunta Kinte in his StarMakingRole. To a lesser extent, it also happened to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/kunta/top "Kunta"]] itself, but to a smaller degree.
* The previously rare boy's name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/denzel/top "Denzel"]] had a large spike in the early '90s after ''Film/{{Glory}}'' became Creator/DenzelWashington's StarMakingRole and won him his first Oscar. It peaked in 1993 after the release of ''Film/MalcolmX'', where he played the title character.
* By 1935, [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/shirley/top/united-states over 40 thousand babies]] were named Shirley by mothers either in honour of Creator/ShirleyTemple or in hopes that their daughter would be just as much of a box office superstar as their namesake.
* Since TheNineties, [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/keanu/top "Keanu"]] has been a not-uncommon boy's name thanks to the actor Creator/KeanuReeves. (It's Hawaiian for "cool breeze", appropriately enough given that Reeves' father is from UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}}.) It enjoyed a revival in the mid-2010s hand-in-hand with Reeves' CareerResurrection thanks to ''Film/JohnWick''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Athletes]]
* The tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash caused [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/kobe/top/ those]] [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/gianna/top/ names]] to trend in 2020. Kobe's name had previously spiked in the late '90s and early '00s when he first started playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
* [[https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31309206/the-jalen-generation-how-jalen-rose-name-spread-world-sports The name Jalen]] and other variations was popularized in the 1990s by the basketball player Jalen Rose. Rose's name was a combination of the names of his father James and his uncle Leonard.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/brady/top "Brady"]] saw a large spike as a boy's name in the 2000s due to Creator/TomBrady, the quarterback for the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague New England Patriots]] who went on to become one of the winningest pro athletes in American history. The name peaked in 2007 when Brady led the Patriots to a 16-0 "perfect season".[[note]]Though the ''post''season saw them lose the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl in [[DownToTheLastPlay one of the biggest upsets in sports history]].[[/note]] It fell off just as fast in the late '00s and '10s, though, likely because the Patriots had by that point become ''the'' OpposingSportsTeam for every football fan west of New Haven.
* Creator/ColinMcRae's 1995 [[UsefulNotes/WorldRallyChampionship WRC]] championship win spurred a number of boys named after the Scotsman, among them Kenyan rally driver [=McRae=] Kimathi.
* Lots of parents named their sons [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/shaquille/top "Shaquille"]] in the early '90s after Creator/ShaquilleONeal.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Musicians]]
* R&B singer Music/{{Aaliyah}} caused her name to suddenly explode in popularity in the mid-'90s, along with its many variations. The name had originated in the Middle East (deriving from the Arabic ''`Aliya[='=]'', which is, roughly, the feminine form of ''`Ali'' and means "elevated," "exalted," or "noble") but became more associated with the African American and Latino communities after the popularity of the singer. The name spiked in popularity in 2001 after her untimely death.
* The Music/BackstreetBoys' popularity in Mexico caused many boys around that time to be named Kevin or Brian (often spelled as "Brayan").
* In 2000, Sonny Sandoval, the frontman of Music/{{POD}} and a born-again Christian, gave his daughter the unusual name of [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/nevaeh/top "Nevaeh",]] which is "heaven" [[SdrawkcabName spelled backwards]]. By 2010, Nevaeh had become the 25th most popular name for baby girls in the United States, with most of this popularity coming from evangelical Christian parents. It's also occasionally been misspelled "Neveah", but that's neither here nor there.
* Baby name databases don't seem to have any data for the name [[http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Tevin "Tevin"]] before 1990, but it peaks in popularity in 1992 (top 200). In between those two years, an R&B singer named Tevin Campbell had released his debut album and scored several hits off it, and his popularity resulted in many baby boys being given his uncommon first name.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/britney/top "Britney",]] an [[MyNaymeIs alternate spelling]] of "Brittany", saw a spike in popularity in the early '00s thanks to Music/BritneySpears. (The base spelling Brittany itself--an old name deriving from a region of France--and other variations on such, did not see anything similar.)
* While [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/taylor/top "Taylor"]] had been falling off from its peak in the mid-'90s by then, it did get a momentary bump in 2008 thanks to Music/TaylorSwift. The JustForFun/OneMarioLimit seems to have kicked in since, however, and the name has continued its decline.
* The same thing happened to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/kanye/top "Kanye"]] in 2004 thanks to Music/KanyeWest, with over five hundred baby boys given the name that year.
* Layne Staley of Music/AliceInChains gave a boost to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/layne/top "Layne"]] as a boy's name in TheNineties. His death from a heroin overdose in 2002 created a second boom that year, and since then it's had a comfortable baseline of popularity due to his status as rock royalty.
* Over four hundred baby boys were named [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/elvis/top "Elvis"]] in 1956, and over six hundred in 1957, when the future [[Music/ElvisPresley King of Rock & Roll]] made his debut. A second spike happened in the late '70s after his untimely death.
* In UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands there used to be only one person named Vajèn (Vajèn van den Bosch, born 1998), whose mother had made up the name. In 2011 she participated in ''Series/TheVoice Kids'' and made it to the final round, and suddenly [[https://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Vajèn there were hundreds]] of baby girls being named Vajèn.
* The name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/kehlani Kehlani]] (a variation of a Hawaiian name) became one of the top 1000 names in the U.S. in 2016, around the rise of the American singer [[Music/{{Kehlani}} of the same name]].
* The girls' name [[https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi Mariah]] jumped from number 562 in popularity in 1989 to number 69 in 1991, the year after Music/MariahCarey released her debut album. Fittingly, Carey's parents were inspired by the song "They Call the Wind Maria" (pronounced Ma-rye-ah) from the 1969 film ''Film/PaintYourWagon,'' which was likely a factor in that name with that spelling reaching its century peak of popularity in the 1970s and the spelling with the H on the end receiving a bump in popularity of over 200 places in the same decade. The spelling with the H on the end is more traditional, as it's originally a name from the Bible.
* Upon her international breakthrough in 2011, the English pop singer Music/{{Adele}} saw [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/adele/top/ her name]] jump in popularity across the US and Europe (except in her home country, oddly enough).
* The groundbreaking success of the Tejano pop singer Music/{{Selena}} caused [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/selena/top her name]] to skyrocket in popularity in the US in the first half of the '90s. It peaked in 1995 when she was murdered by a LoonyFan, causing nearly four thousand girls to be named after her in tribute and briefly pushing the name into the top 100. In the 2010s, it came full circle when Music/SelenaGomez, herself named after the singer, became a pop superstar and gave the name a second wind of popularity.
* After the release of Music/WhitneyHouston's [[Music/WhitneyHoustonAlbum self-titled debut album]] in 1985, the name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/whitney/top/ "Whitney"]] skyrocketed in popularity and became the 32nd most common girl's name in the US. It had another small bump in 1993, the year after the release of ''Film/TheBodyguard''.
* Music/SheenaEaston's breakthrough in 1980 with "9 to 5" caused the name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/sheena/top "Sheena"]] to jump from obscurity to one of the 100 most popular girl's names in the US by 1984.
* This was {{Double Subver|sion}}ted by [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/miley/top "Miley"]] as a girl's name. It saw a spike in the late '00s thanks to ''Series/HannahMontana'' star Music/MileyCyrus, but fell off just as quickly in the early '10s after she embraced a HotterAndSexier image post-Disney... only to return in the late '10s as she cleaned up her image, enjoyed a CareerResurrection, and became an elder stateswoman of pop music.
* After Creator/TyreseGibson released his debut album in 1998, [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/tyrese/top "Tyrese"]] shot up the rankings of boy's names in the US, and would remain popular through the '00s.
* For girl's names, the same thing happened when Music/{{Mya}} released her debut album that same year and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/mya/top her name]] similarly exploded.
* In TheSeventies, the band Music/CaptainAndTennille caused a lot of parents to name their daughters [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/tennille/top "Tennille"]] after their female singer.
* While the girl's name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/ashanti/top "Ashanti"]] had a small boost before then due to the Black Power movement, the debut of the singer Ashanti in 2002 caused a huge spike in the name's popularity that lasted for much of the '00s.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Political and Military Leaders]]
* Prior to the rise of pop culture, the best way to get people to name their kids after you was to conquer them. As an example, prior to 1066, nearly everyone in England had solid Old English names like Edwin, Edgar, or Athelstan. Once William the Conqueror made the aristocracy Norman French, things changed, and soon nearly everyone was called things like William, Richard, Robert, Henry, or Hugh, names of Continental Germanic (generally Frankish) origin that the Normans, who were originally Vikings (hence "Nor(se)man") but had adopted French ways, brought with them. Interestingly, [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheThird Henry III]] created an instance of this by naming [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst his son and heir]] (who had an illustrious if controversial reign) after the last king of the House of Wessex, [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWessex Edward the Confessor]], reviving the distinctively Anglo-Saxon name "Edward" not only for the English monarchy, but for the English people and for Europe generally (see: French "Édouard", German/Dutch "Eduard", Spanish/Portuguese "Eduardo" and "Duarte",[[note]]Thanks to the later connections between the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfPlantagenet House of Lancaster]] and the royal houses of Iberia--namely that the founder of the House of Lancaster, John of Gaunt, was the ancestor of the main lines of the ruling houses of Portugal and Castile. (One of the reasons UsefulNotes/HenryVIII married Catherine of Aragon was that as a member of the Castilian House of Trastámara, Catherine actually had a ''stronger'' connection to the Lancastrian claim to the English throne than Henry VII did, as she was a legitimate descendant of John of Gaunt through his second wife Constance of Castile; Henry VII's Lancastrian claim was through the legitimised bastard children of John of Gaunt's mistress-turned-wife Katherine Swinford, which children had been required to renounce their claims to the throne in exchange for legitimisation.) Descent from John of Gaunt is probably also the reason that a certain junior member of the Portuguese ruling house with an interest in maritime matters was given the name "Enrique" (i.e Henry, as in Henry the Navigator--a somewhat un-Portuguese name at the time, but one with a lot of resonance among the Plantagenets).[[/note]] and Scandinavian "Edvard").
* UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily:
** If the family has a new baby, chances are many people will name their kids after the child, as was the case with Charlotte and George.
** [[UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales Princess Diana]] died in 1997. That year and the next, her name suddenly shot up to the 409th and 396th most popular girl names in the UK, after having been outside of the Top 1000; by 1999, it had dropped off again.
** The name "Victoria" had short bursts of popularity during [[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria the Queen]]'s succession (1837), coronation (1838), marriage (1840), Diamond Jubilee (1897), and eventually her death (1901). Since then, she has had this impact on the name in the Anglosphere more broadly; before her reign, "Victoria" was a Latin name, but thanks to her it's seen as one of the most quintessentially English names out there and has been a perennial favorite.
** In 2011, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge married Catherine "Kate" Middleton. While neither William nor Catherine's names saw any boosts (both names were perennial favorites, anyway), the spotlight put on Catherine's family caused her younger sister Philippa "Pippa" Middleton to become a socialite and writer in her own right, leading to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/pippa/top "Pippa"]] becoming a popular girl's name in the UK.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/meghan/top "Meghan"]] saw a slight bump in 2018 thanks to Creator/MeghanMarkle's marriage to Prince Harry that year.
* While it is still far from a common name, "Kamala" saw a surge in popularity after Kamala Harris was elected the first female vice president of the United States.
* UsefulNotes/WorldWarI:
** In 1918, Italian general Armando Diaz signed the Victory Address, a short document meant to inform the population of the victory against Austria. It was shown in schools, barracks, and town halls, and many children were required to memorize it. The Address ended with the words "firmato: Diaz" (signed: Diaz), which led many to think that "firmato" ("signed") was his name. In the following years, many children were baptized with that name.
** This happened with [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/pershing/top "Pershing"]] in 1918 when the US entered the war and John J. Pershing led the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front.
* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII:
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/dwight/top "Dwight"]] saw two peaks in popularity as a boy's name, 1945 and 1953, and remained popular for a while after. The common denominator in both was UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander who presided over the end of the war in 1945 and was elected President of the United States in late 1952.
** During the war, lots of parents named their sons [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/macarthur/top/ "MacArthur"]] as UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur gained recognition as commander of the United States Army in the Pacific. The variant [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/mcarthur/top/ "McArthur"]] proved the most popular.
** When the war broke out, lots of parents, not just in the UK but also in her dominions and in the US, named their sons [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/winston/top "Winston"]] in tribute to the UK's wartime Prime Minister UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill.
* If [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStates the President of the United States]] has a name that isn't one of the old standards like "John", "Richard", "Ronald", "George", "Bill", or "Joe", it's likely that a lot of Americans will name their sons after him. After the initial spikes wear off, the continued popularity, or lack thereof, of those names also tracks closely with the popularity of those Presidents.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/mckinley/top "McKinley"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley in 1896. Public sympathy after his assassination kept the name popular for some time after.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/theodore/top "Theodore",]] [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/roosevelt/top "Roosevelt",]] [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/teddy/top "Teddy",]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/ted/top "Ted"]] after UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt (who was nicknamed Teddy) ascended to the Presidency in 1901 following [=McKinley's=] assassination. As he remained popular for a while after, so did his names. "Theodore" would get a second wind in the 2010s and hit the top 10 in 2021, this time due to TR's internet-fueled reputation as a MemeticBadass and real-life ActionPolitician making the name a popular choice for parents who want some of his badassery to rub off on their sons.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/taft/top "Taft"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft in 1908. This one rapidly fell off as his administration proved so unpopular that he remains [[MedalOfDishonor the only President]] to place ''third'' when running for reelection.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/woodrow/top "Woodrow"]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/wilson/top "Wilson"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson in 1912. While they remained popular through the decade, conservative backlash against Wilson's economic and foreign policy during TheRoaringTwenties caused them to quickly fall off.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/warren/top "Warren"]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/harding/top "Harding"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/WarrenGHarding in 1920. His corruption scandals caused the names to quickly fall off, as while he was never personally touched by them, they led many Americans to see him as a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter. Not even his early death in office redeemed the names, not least because it's been long speculated that it was actually an assassination by his jilted wife, fed up with his extramarital affairs (which spilled out after his death).
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/calvin/top "Calvin"]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/coolidge/top "Coolidge"]] after UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge ascended to the Presidency in 1923 following Harding's death. While "Coolidge" was just a blip, "Calvin" remained popular thanks to Coolidge's image as a decent, steady hand at the helm during a time of economic prosperity.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/herbert/top "Herbert"]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/hoover/top "Hoover"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/HerbertHoover in 1928. The popularity of both names collapsed as TheGreatDepression started on his watch and he took the blame for it, with "Hoover" in particular widely used as [[PersonAsVerb a prefix for things related to poverty]] (such as "Hooverville" for a shanty town).
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/franklin/top "Franklin"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt in 1932, with "Roosevelt" also getting a renewed bump. This one remained popular well into TheForties as FDR led the country through the Depression and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/truman/top "Truman"]] after UsefulNotes/HarryTruman ascended to the Presidency in 1945 following FDR's death. This one fell off in popularity in TheFifties as he was dragged down by his increasingly unpopular handling of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar.
** UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy didn't do this for his first name (a perennial favorite) or his last, but his assassination in 1963 ''did'' do this for his middle name, with 125 parents naming their sons [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/fitzgerald/top/ "Fitzgerald"]] in his honor in 1964.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/lyndon/top "Lyndon"]] after UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson ascended to the Presidency in 1963 following the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy. As he was assailed for UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and the social crises of the late '60s, this one quickly collapsed in popularity.
* After UsefulNotes/BarackObama became President in 2009, bringing his daughters Malia and Sasha into the public eye, the name Maliyah was the [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/07/malia-obama-first-daughte_n_567776.html fastest growing name in popularity in 2009]], and the name Sasha also jumped in popularity. Notably, this hasn't affected the popularity of Natasha, Sasha's rarely-used full first name, which has only decreased in popularity since the family came into public prominence.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Miscellaneous]]
* In Brazil, two foreign celebrities led to phonetic versions that are still popular to date, Daiana/Daiane for UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales and Maicon for Music/MichaelJackson.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/paris/top/ "Paris"]] saw a huge momentary spike in popularity in 2004, and a smaller but more sustained bump in the late '00s and '10s, thanks to Creator/ParisHilton.
* Cars:
** While the German automaker Mercedes-Benz had been selling cars in the US since 1958, it was only in TheEighties when they dethroned a [[AudienceAlienatingEra malaise-era]] Cadillac as the premier luxury automaker in the minds of many Americans. Hence why [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/mercedes/top "Mercedes"]] took off as a name for baby girls during that time, as the automaker gave it an aura of poshness. In a way, the name came full-circle, as Mercedes-Benz founder Emil Jellinek named the brand after his daughter[[note]]The name's original meaning is an epithet for the Virgin Mary: "Our Lady of Mercies"[[/note]].
** The same thing happened to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/portia/top "Portia",]] as the German sports car manufacturer Porsche also saw a sales boom in the US during that time. Amusingly, the names Portia and Porsche have no relation whatsoever, yet Portia remains a popular girl's name due to ''sounding'' like the car company.
** For boy's names, [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/bentley/top "Bentley"]] took off in the late '00s almost as quickly as a Bentley Continental GT, the car that turned what had once been a small, exclusive British marque into a major player in luxury cars.
* The Black Power movement in the '60s and '70s upended many naming conventions for African-Americans. Before, both White and Black people named their sons and daughters using more or less the same pool of "English" given names, but afterwards, there was a surge in interest in indigenous African, Egyptian, Arabic, and even French names among Black people, who saw these names as getting them back in touch with their roots and their heritage and rejecting a legacy tied to slavery. Even after the decline of Afrocentrism by the '90s, these naming conventions stuck around.
[[/folder]]
----
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Actors]]
* The name "Emma" was already rising in popularity, but jumped ([[https://www.behindthename.com/name/emma/top from thirteenth to fourth place]] in the States) upon the release of ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' with Creator/EmmaWatson. Since then, it has never been out of the top four and was at #1 in 2008 and from 2014 through '18.
* Thanks to Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', there were spikes in popularity of the name Nichelle as a baby name.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/jayden/top "Jayden",]] a name that was practically unheard of before TheNineties, skyrocketed in popularity after 1998 when Jaden Smith was born, peaking in 2010 as the fourth most popular boy's name.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/owen/top "Owen"]] boomed in popularity after Creator/OwenWilson starred in ''Film/{{Anaconda}}'' and ''Film/Armageddon1998''. As of 2019, it's in the top 30 baby names.
* The name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/emilia/top/ "Emilia"]], once a fairly obscure variant on "Emily", has surged in popularity thanks to the increasing popularity of the actress Creator/EmiliaClarke.
* "Liam", an Irish variant of "William", was unheard of in the US until 1994, when it entered the top 1000 baby names, thanks to the release of ''Film/SchindlersList'', featuring Irish heartthrob Creator/LiamNeeson. It would skyrocket to number 2 on the list in 2013, thanks to ''Film/TheHungerGames'' star Creator/LiamHemsworth.
* In Brazil, ever since a famous actor couple named their son "Enzo" in the late '90s, [[https://veja.abril.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/enzo-ibge.jpg?quality=70&strip=info&w=650 the name skyrocketed in popularity]] -- "Enzo Gabriel" in particular became the most common composite name in 2009, and outright male name in 2018! A [[https://imgsapp.em.com.br/app/noticia_127983242361/2017/11/28/920209/20171128143725278123a.jpg kindergarten class]] featuring ''seven'' "Enzos" went viral, and the name is now memetic as a trendy baby name (for single moms in particular; the female equivalent is "Valentina", which took off without a clear reason). Like "Karen", "Becky", and "Chad", it is also an online slang term: say "Enzos", and others will know you're talking about the current teenage populace in [[LowerClassLout a demeaning way]].
* Shortly after Darla Hood became one of ''Film/TheLittleRascals'' in 1935/36, parents all over the country were naming their baby girls "Darla".
* Tends to happen from time to time with popular ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' cast members. For example, the names "Victoria" and "Maya" increased in popularity after Victoria Jackson and Creator/MayaRudolph became regulars on the show.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/ryan/top/ "Ryan"]] exploded as a boy's name in TheSeventies after Creator/RyanONeal starred in ''Film/LoveStory'', which (as noted above) did the same to "Jennifer" as a girl's name.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/drew/top "Drew"]] took off first as a boy's name in TheEighties, then had a smaller boom as a girl's name in TheNineties, thanks to Creator/DrewBarrymore.
* The girl's name [[https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi "Alyssa"]] had a rapid rise in popularity in the mid-1980s, following Creator/AlyssaMilano's StarMakingRole on ''Series/WhosTheBoss''. It went from being ranked at 230 in popularity for girls in 1982 to number 27 in 1990. It dropped slightly, but then saw another boost in the late '90s and early '00s, where it was solidly in the top 15 names for girls from 1997 to 2004, which coincides neatly with her appearance on ''Series/Charmed1998''.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/millie/top/ "Millie",]] a diminutive of "Mildred" or "Millicent", started skyrocketing as a girl's name in the US in the late 2010s, hitting the top 200 by 2020, thanks to Creator/MillieBobbyBrown's StarMakingRole on ''Series/StrangerThings''. There wasn't a similar boost in the UK or the rest of the English-speaking world despite Brown being English herself, possibly because, in those countries, the name had already been a popular choice since the 2000s.
* "Olivia" became a popular name after Creator/OliviaDeHavilland starred in ''Film/CaptainBlood''.
* [[https://nameberry.com/babyname/annette "Annette"]] boomed in popularity in the 1950s when Creator/AnnetteFunicello starred in ''Series/TheMickeyMouseClub''.
* The tragic and sudden early death of Creator/RiverPhoenix in 1993 caused the name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/river/top "River"]] to enter the top 1,000 boy's names for the first time the following year, as many parents named their sons in tribute to a talented actor taken too soon (especially one who, before his fatal overdose, was not widely known to have drug problems). As noted above, it has continued to rise since then.
* After ''Series/Roots1977'' premiered, many parents named their sons [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/levar/top/ "Levar"]] after Creator/LeVarBurton, who played Kunta Kinte in his StarMakingRole. To a lesser extent, it also happened to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/kunta/top "Kunta"]] itself, but to a smaller degree.
* The previously rare boy's name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/denzel/top "Denzel"]] had a large spike in the early '90s after ''Film/{{Glory}}'' became Creator/DenzelWashington's StarMakingRole and won him his first Oscar. It peaked in 1993 after the release of ''Film/MalcolmX'', where he played the title character.
* By 1935, [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/shirley/top/united-states over 40 thousand babies]] were named Shirley by mothers either in honour of Creator/ShirleyTemple or in hopes that their daughter would be just as much of a box office superstar as their namesake.
* Since TheNineties, [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/keanu/top "Keanu"]] has been a not-uncommon boy's name thanks to the actor Creator/KeanuReeves. (It's Hawaiian for "cool breeze", appropriately enough given that Reeves' father is from UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}}.) It enjoyed a revival in the mid-2010s hand-in-hand with Reeves' CareerResurrection thanks to ''Film/JohnWick''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Athletes]]
* The tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash caused [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/kobe/top/ those]] [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/gianna/top/ names]] to trend in 2020. Kobe's name had previously spiked in the late '90s and early '00s when he first started playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
* [[https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31309206/the-jalen-generation-how-jalen-rose-name-spread-world-sports The name Jalen]] and other variations was popularized in the 1990s by the basketball player Jalen Rose. Rose's name was a combination of the names of his father James and his uncle Leonard.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/brady/top "Brady"]] saw a large spike as a boy's name in the 2000s due to Creator/TomBrady, the quarterback for the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague New England Patriots]] who went on to become one of the winningest pro athletes in American history. The name peaked in 2007 when Brady led the Patriots to a 16-0 "perfect season".[[note]]Though the ''post''season saw them lose the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl in [[DownToTheLastPlay one of the biggest upsets in sports history]].[[/note]] It fell off just as fast in the late '00s and '10s, though, likely because the Patriots had by that point become ''the'' OpposingSportsTeam for every football fan west of New Haven.
* Creator/ColinMcRae's 1995 [[UsefulNotes/WorldRallyChampionship WRC]] championship win spurred a number of boys named after the Scotsman, among them Kenyan rally driver [=McRae=] Kimathi.
* Lots of parents named their sons [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/shaquille/top "Shaquille"]] in the early '90s after Creator/ShaquilleONeal.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Musicians]]
* R&B singer Music/{{Aaliyah}} caused her name to suddenly explode in popularity in the mid-'90s, along with its many variations. The name had originated in the Middle East (deriving from the Arabic ''`Aliya[='=]'', which is, roughly, the feminine form of ''`Ali'' and means "elevated," "exalted," or "noble") but became more associated with the African American and Latino communities after the popularity of the singer. The name spiked in popularity in 2001 after her untimely death.
* The Music/BackstreetBoys' popularity in Mexico caused many boys around that time to be named Kevin or Brian (often spelled as "Brayan").
* In 2000, Sonny Sandoval, the frontman of Music/{{POD}} and a born-again Christian, gave his daughter the unusual name of [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/nevaeh/top "Nevaeh",]] which is "heaven" [[SdrawkcabName spelled backwards]]. By 2010, Nevaeh had become the 25th most popular name for baby girls in the United States, with most of this popularity coming from evangelical Christian parents. It's also occasionally been misspelled "Neveah", but that's neither here nor there.
* Baby name databases don't seem to have any data for the name [[http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Tevin "Tevin"]] before 1990, but it peaks in popularity in 1992 (top 200). In between those two years, an R&B singer named Tevin Campbell had released his debut album and scored several hits off it, and his popularity resulted in many baby boys being given his uncommon first name.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/britney/top "Britney",]] an [[MyNaymeIs alternate spelling]] of "Brittany", saw a spike in popularity in the early '00s thanks to Music/BritneySpears. (The base spelling Brittany itself--an old name deriving from a region of France--and other variations on such, did not see anything similar.)
* While [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/taylor/top "Taylor"]] had been falling off from its peak in the mid-'90s by then, it did get a momentary bump in 2008 thanks to Music/TaylorSwift. The JustForFun/OneMarioLimit seems to have kicked in since, however, and the name has continued its decline.
* The same thing happened to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/kanye/top "Kanye"]] in 2004 thanks to Music/KanyeWest, with over five hundred baby boys given the name that year.
* Layne Staley of Music/AliceInChains gave a boost to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/layne/top "Layne"]] as a boy's name in TheNineties. His death from a heroin overdose in 2002 created a second boom that year, and since then it's had a comfortable baseline of popularity due to his status as rock royalty.
* Over four hundred baby boys were named [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/elvis/top "Elvis"]] in 1956, and over six hundred in 1957, when the future [[Music/ElvisPresley King of Rock & Roll]] made his debut. A second spike happened in the late '70s after his untimely death.
* In UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands there used to be only one person named Vajèn (Vajèn van den Bosch, born 1998), whose mother had made up the name. In 2011 she participated in ''Series/TheVoice Kids'' and made it to the final round, and suddenly [[https://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Vajèn there were hundreds]] of baby girls being named Vajèn.
* The name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/kehlani Kehlani]] (a variation of a Hawaiian name) became one of the top 1000 names in the U.S. in 2016, around the rise of the American singer [[Music/{{Kehlani}} of the same name]].
* The girls' name [[https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi Mariah]] jumped from number 562 in popularity in 1989 to number 69 in 1991, the year after Music/MariahCarey released her debut album. Fittingly, Carey's parents were inspired by the song "They Call the Wind Maria" (pronounced Ma-rye-ah) from the 1969 film ''Film/PaintYourWagon,'' which was likely a factor in that name with that spelling reaching its century peak of popularity in the 1970s and the spelling with the H on the end receiving a bump in popularity of over 200 places in the same decade. The spelling with the H on the end is more traditional, as it's originally a name from the Bible.
* Upon her international breakthrough in 2011, the English pop singer Music/{{Adele}} saw [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/adele/top/ her name]] jump in popularity across the US and Europe (except in her home country, oddly enough).
* The groundbreaking success of the Tejano pop singer Music/{{Selena}} caused [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/selena/top her name]] to skyrocket in popularity in the US in the first half of the '90s. It peaked in 1995 when she was murdered by a LoonyFan, causing nearly four thousand girls to be named after her in tribute and briefly pushing the name into the top 100. In the 2010s, it came full circle when Music/SelenaGomez, herself named after the singer, became a pop superstar and gave the name a second wind of popularity.
* After the release of Music/WhitneyHouston's [[Music/WhitneyHoustonAlbum self-titled debut album]] in 1985, the name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/whitney/top/ "Whitney"]] skyrocketed in popularity and became the 32nd most common girl's name in the US. It had another small bump in 1993, the year after the release of ''Film/TheBodyguard''.
* Music/SheenaEaston's breakthrough in 1980 with "9 to 5" caused the name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/sheena/top "Sheena"]] to jump from obscurity to one of the 100 most popular girl's names in the US by 1984.
* This was {{Double Subver|sion}}ted by [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/miley/top "Miley"]] as a girl's name. It saw a spike in the late '00s thanks to ''Series/HannahMontana'' star Music/MileyCyrus, but fell off just as quickly in the early '10s after she embraced a HotterAndSexier image post-Disney... only to return in the late '10s as she cleaned up her image, enjoyed a CareerResurrection, and became an elder stateswoman of pop music.
* After Creator/TyreseGibson released his debut album in 1998, [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/tyrese/top "Tyrese"]] shot up the rankings of boy's names in the US, and would remain popular through the '00s.
* For girl's names, the same thing happened when Music/{{Mya}} released her debut album that same year and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/mya/top her name]] similarly exploded.
* In TheSeventies, the band Music/CaptainAndTennille caused a lot of parents to name their daughters [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/tennille/top "Tennille"]] after their female singer.
* While the girl's name [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/ashanti/top "Ashanti"]] had a small boost before then due to the Black Power movement, the debut of the singer Ashanti in 2002 caused a huge spike in the name's popularity that lasted for much of the '00s.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Political and Military Leaders]]
* Prior to the rise of pop culture, the best way to get people to name their kids after you was to conquer them. As an example, prior to 1066, nearly everyone in England had solid Old English names like Edwin, Edgar, or Athelstan. Once William the Conqueror made the aristocracy Norman French, things changed, and soon nearly everyone was called things like William, Richard, Robert, Henry, or Hugh, names of Continental Germanic (generally Frankish) origin that the Normans, who were originally Vikings (hence "Nor(se)man") but had adopted French ways, brought with them. Interestingly, [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheThird Henry III]] created an instance of this by naming [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst his son and heir]] (who had an illustrious if controversial reign) after the last king of the House of Wessex, [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWessex Edward the Confessor]], reviving the distinctively Anglo-Saxon name "Edward" not only for the English monarchy, but for the English people and for Europe generally (see: French "Édouard", German/Dutch "Eduard", Spanish/Portuguese "Eduardo" and "Duarte",[[note]]Thanks to the later connections between the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfPlantagenet House of Lancaster]] and the royal houses of Iberia--namely that the founder of the House of Lancaster, John of Gaunt, was the ancestor of the main lines of the ruling houses of Portugal and Castile. (One of the reasons UsefulNotes/HenryVIII married Catherine of Aragon was that as a member of the Castilian House of Trastámara, Catherine actually had a ''stronger'' connection to the Lancastrian claim to the English throne than Henry VII did, as she was a legitimate descendant of John of Gaunt through his second wife Constance of Castile; Henry VII's Lancastrian claim was through the legitimised bastard children of John of Gaunt's mistress-turned-wife Katherine Swinford, which children had been required to renounce their claims to the throne in exchange for legitimisation.) Descent from John of Gaunt is probably also the reason that a certain junior member of the Portuguese ruling house with an interest in maritime matters was given the name "Enrique" (i.e Henry, as in Henry the Navigator--a somewhat un-Portuguese name at the time, but one with a lot of resonance among the Plantagenets).[[/note]] and Scandinavian "Edvard").
* UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily:
** If the family has a new baby, chances are many people will name their kids after the child, as was the case with Charlotte and George.
** [[UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales Princess Diana]] died in 1997. That year and the next, her name suddenly shot up to the 409th and 396th most popular girl names in the UK, after having been outside of the Top 1000; by 1999, it had dropped off again.
** The name "Victoria" had short bursts of popularity during [[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria the Queen]]'s succession (1837), coronation (1838), marriage (1840), Diamond Jubilee (1897), and eventually her death (1901). Since then, she has had this impact on the name in the Anglosphere more broadly; before her reign, "Victoria" was a Latin name, but thanks to her it's seen as one of the most quintessentially English names out there and has been a perennial favorite.
** In 2011, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge married Catherine "Kate" Middleton. While neither William nor Catherine's names saw any boosts (both names were perennial favorites, anyway), the spotlight put on Catherine's family caused her younger sister Philippa "Pippa" Middleton to become a socialite and writer in her own right, leading to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/pippa/top "Pippa"]] becoming a popular girl's name in the UK.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/meghan/top "Meghan"]] saw a slight bump in 2018 thanks to Creator/MeghanMarkle's marriage to Prince Harry that year.
* While it is still far from a common name, "Kamala" saw a surge in popularity after Kamala Harris was elected the first female vice president of the United States.
* UsefulNotes/WorldWarI:
** In 1918, Italian general Armando Diaz signed the Victory Address, a short document meant to inform the population of the victory against Austria. It was shown in schools, barracks, and town halls, and many children were required to memorize it. The Address ended with the words "firmato: Diaz" (signed: Diaz), which led many to think that "firmato" ("signed") was his name. In the following years, many children were baptized with that name.
** This happened with [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/pershing/top "Pershing"]] in 1918 when the US entered the war and John J. Pershing led the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front.
* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII:
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/dwight/top "Dwight"]] saw two peaks in popularity as a boy's name, 1945 and 1953, and remained popular for a while after. The common denominator in both was UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander who presided over the end of the war in 1945 and was elected President of the United States in late 1952.
** During the war, lots of parents named their sons [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/macarthur/top/ "MacArthur"]] as UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur gained recognition as commander of the United States Army in the Pacific. The variant [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/mcarthur/top/ "McArthur"]] proved the most popular.
** When the war broke out, lots of parents, not just in the UK but also in her dominions and in the US, named their sons [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/winston/top "Winston"]] in tribute to the UK's wartime Prime Minister UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill.
* If [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStates the President of the United States]] has a name that isn't one of the old standards like "John", "Richard", "Ronald", "George", "Bill", or "Joe", it's likely that a lot of Americans will name their sons after him. After the initial spikes wear off, the continued popularity, or lack thereof, of those names also tracks closely with the popularity of those Presidents.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/mckinley/top "McKinley"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley in 1896. Public sympathy after his assassination kept the name popular for some time after.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/theodore/top "Theodore",]] [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/roosevelt/top "Roosevelt",]] [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/teddy/top "Teddy",]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/ted/top "Ted"]] after UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt (who was nicknamed Teddy) ascended to the Presidency in 1901 following [=McKinley's=] assassination. As he remained popular for a while after, so did his names. "Theodore" would get a second wind in the 2010s and hit the top 10 in 2021, this time due to TR's internet-fueled reputation as a MemeticBadass and real-life ActionPolitician making the name a popular choice for parents who want some of his badassery to rub off on their sons.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/taft/top "Taft"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft in 1908. This one rapidly fell off as his administration proved so unpopular that he remains [[MedalOfDishonor the only President]] to place ''third'' when running for reelection.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/woodrow/top "Woodrow"]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/wilson/top "Wilson"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson in 1912. While they remained popular through the decade, conservative backlash against Wilson's economic and foreign policy during TheRoaringTwenties caused them to quickly fall off.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/warren/top "Warren"]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/harding/top "Harding"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/WarrenGHarding in 1920. His corruption scandals caused the names to quickly fall off, as while he was never personally touched by them, they led many Americans to see him as a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter. Not even his early death in office redeemed the names, not least because it's been long speculated that it was actually an assassination by his jilted wife, fed up with his extramarital affairs (which spilled out after his death).
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/calvin/top "Calvin"]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/coolidge/top "Coolidge"]] after UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge ascended to the Presidency in 1923 following Harding's death. While "Coolidge" was just a blip, "Calvin" remained popular thanks to Coolidge's image as a decent, steady hand at the helm during a time of economic prosperity.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/herbert/top "Herbert"]] and [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/hoover/top "Hoover"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/HerbertHoover in 1928. The popularity of both names collapsed as TheGreatDepression started on his watch and he took the blame for it, with "Hoover" in particular widely used as [[PersonAsVerb a prefix for things related to poverty]] (such as "Hooverville" for a shanty town).
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/franklin/top "Franklin"]] after the election of UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt in 1932, with "Roosevelt" also getting a renewed bump. This one remained popular well into TheForties as FDR led the country through the Depression and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/truman/top "Truman"]] after UsefulNotes/HarryTruman ascended to the Presidency in 1945 following FDR's death. This one fell off in popularity in TheFifties as he was dragged down by his increasingly unpopular handling of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar.
** UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy didn't do this for his first name (a perennial favorite) or his last, but his assassination in 1963 ''did'' do this for his middle name, with 125 parents naming their sons [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/fitzgerald/top/ "Fitzgerald"]] in his honor in 1964.
** [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/lyndon/top "Lyndon"]] after UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson ascended to the Presidency in 1963 following the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy. As he was assailed for UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and the social crises of the late '60s, this one quickly collapsed in popularity.
* After UsefulNotes/BarackObama became President in 2009, bringing his daughters Malia and Sasha into the public eye, the name Maliyah was the [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/07/malia-obama-first-daughte_n_567776.html fastest growing name in popularity in 2009]], and the name Sasha also jumped in popularity. Notably, this hasn't affected the popularity of Natasha, Sasha's rarely-used full first name, which has only decreased in popularity since the family came into public prominence.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Miscellaneous]]
* In Brazil, two foreign celebrities led to phonetic versions that are still popular to date, Daiana/Daiane for UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales and Maicon for Music/MichaelJackson.
* [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/paris/top/ "Paris"]] saw a huge momentary spike in popularity in 2004, and a smaller but more sustained bump in the late '00s and '10s, thanks to Creator/ParisHilton.
* Cars:
** While the German automaker Mercedes-Benz had been selling cars in the US since 1958, it was only in TheEighties when they dethroned a [[AudienceAlienatingEra malaise-era]] Cadillac as the premier luxury automaker in the minds of many Americans. Hence why [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/mercedes/top "Mercedes"]] took off as a name for baby girls during that time, as the automaker gave it an aura of poshness. In a way, the name came full-circle, as Mercedes-Benz founder Emil Jellinek named the brand after his daughter[[note]]The name's original meaning is an epithet for the Virgin Mary: "Our Lady of Mercies"[[/note]].
** The same thing happened to [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/portia/top "Portia",]] as the German sports car manufacturer Porsche also saw a sales boom in the US during that time. Amusingly, the names Portia and Porsche have no relation whatsoever, yet Portia remains a popular girl's name due to ''sounding'' like the car company.
** For boy's names, [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/bentley/top "Bentley"]] took off in the late '00s almost as quickly as a Bentley Continental GT, the car that turned what had once been a small, exclusive British marque into a major player in luxury cars.
* The Black Power movement in the '60s and '70s upended many naming conventions for African-Americans. Before, both White and Black people named their sons and daughters using more or less the same pool of "English" given names, but afterwards, there was a surge in interest in indigenous African, Egyptian, Arabic, and even French names among Black people, who saw these names as getting them back in touch with their roots and their heritage and rejecting a legacy tied to slavery. Even after the decline of Afrocentrism by the '90s, these naming conventions stuck around.
[[/folder]]
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