Tradition tops Ontario’s most popular baby names — but further down the list a new trend is taking over.
Dubbed the “Netflix Effect,” the names of characters from shows such as Orange is the New Black are hitting the top 100 or 150 or just making an appearance thanks to the popularity of Internet-streamed series.
Television shows including drug-dealing drama Breaking Bad also proved good inspiration for Ontario parents, with 104 naming their newborn Skylar, 87 choosing Jesse and 18 Walter. Even violent biker series Sons of Anarchy provided parents with choices such as Jax, Gemma and Abel, according to statistics released by the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services.
“There is a big push for Netflix — I do see the popularity of TV names which generally don’t hit the top 20, but you see them in the top 100 or 200,” said Ann Elisabeth Samson, editor of BabyCenter Canada, which compiles its own list of top names from 14,000 Canadian parents who registered with it this year.
In the past, she’s even seen shows like Duck Dynasty affect choices.
“The most interesting moves are not in the top 20 — those tend to stay fairly stable year to year.”
Here in Ontario, despite the influence of series such as Game of Thrones (Arya, Shae, Meera), the top name choices are Olivia, Emma, Sophia, Ava and Charlotte for girls, and Liam, Ethan, Lucas, Noah and Benjamin for boys, said Cynthia Vukets, spokesperson for the consumer services ministry.
Natasha and Rod McLeod of Angus, Ont., named their son Jax when he was born in 2011, but knew nothing about Sons of Anarchy or its key character.
“We do watch the show now,” said Natasha McLeod. “We are in love with it.”
The Ontario government released the top names for 2013 early Friday, the most recent data available. Some 70 children were named Jax that year.
Liam was chosen by 834 parents for their son; William came in at number seven, with 692 parents opting for it. It’s been a mainstay that has appeared in the top five in Ontario as far back as 1917.
Toronto mom Kelly Botrie said she and husband Jonathon easily agreed on that name for their now 3-year-old son.
“I’d always liked the name William for a boy — Will for short,” she said. “Years before we had kids, I wanted William for a boy.”
Then, when the couple had a daughter just two and a half months ago, they tried to find another traditional moniker.
They liked Grace, but that left them with Will and Grace, the name of late 90s-early 2000s television hit. They also liked Katherine, but that meant they’d have Will and Kate, just like the Royal couple, “and that would be ridiculous.”
“William (the name) ended up being kind of bossy,” said Kelly Botrie. “It forced us to pick another classic name that wasn’t going to remind us of the royal family or a TV show.”
“The thing we liked least about Emma was that it is so popular,” she said, but they still loved the name itself. “We had a really hard time, and we didn’t decide on the name until, really, the last minute. But I like classic and simple girls’ names that aren’t fussy.”
Olivia, given to 969 Ontario babies, was followed by Emma at 906. Some 93 Ontarians named their child Piper, the main character in the prison series Orange is the New Black.
Reflecting Ontario’s diversity, Maryam and Mohammad also make their mark; in the United Kingdom, Babycenter reported Mohammed, using several different spellings, as its’ users most popular choice.
Babycenter Canada reports a surge in Emmet, the main character in the The Lego Movie, which was number 35 on its boys’ list for 2014.
Even Canadian indie musician sisters Tegan and Sara moved up Babycenter’s list, Samson said, noting “they performed the stuck-in-your head hit from that movie, Everything is Awesome.
While television, movies and the Internet have sway, federal politics may also be on the minds of expectant parents, said Vukets of Ontario’s consumer services ministry, which registers births.
“It seems some parents are really into politics: 166 babies were named Harper, 388 Thomas, 289 Elizabeth and 129 Justin,” she said.
“We’re not sure if those could be considered unofficial poll results on the federal party leaders, so we’ll leave that to the pundits.”
Source:: Metro News
