Once upon a time, tv commercials were America's common language. They were catchy, they were inescapable, they were universal. In the glory days of network tv, you might not have watched the exact same shows as your neighbors, but you definitely knew not to squeeze the Charmin, asked "Where's the beef?," and could sing all the words to the "Meow Mix" cat food song. (Spoiler: they're all "meow.") For the ultimate proof of the impact of vintage tv ads, I present baby names. Meet three names that became overnight phenomena thanks to the power of commercials.  Dijonnaise  In 1993, Hellmann's/Bes ..read more

  Unusual, but not weird. Not trendy, but not outdated either. Easy to spell and pronounce, but not ordinary? If that's your impossible baby name target, no worries, we've got you covered. We've tracked down 16 boys' names that are familiar, usable, and perennially rare. So rare, in fact, that none of them has ever ranked among the top 300 names in America. Even the likes of Millard and Wilmer have managed to climb higher than that. The rarity should make any of these names distinctive to your son wherever he goes. In fact, many of them stand out in sound as well as style, with few sound-alike ..read more

A brand-new year means brand-new baby name trends. Here are eight best bets for 2019 style. These names were all unusual last year, but their combination of fashionable sound and new, breakout star power has them poised to rise in the year ahead. Baker (M) This energetic surname was left behind by the tradesman trend that sent names like Carter, Cooper, Tyler and Parker to the top. Thanks to Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, that should change in a hurry. Kiki (F) The name Kiki has always been a step apart from the likes of Mimi and Fifi. It has bold and creative associations, whic ..read more

It all started with a spring picnic. In April, two African-American men fired up a grill for a cookout in an Oakland, California park. A white woman who was passing by objected to their grilling in that location, demanded that they leave, and ultimately called the police on their picnic. A video of the incident went viral, and on the internet the woman was dubbed "BBQ Becky." The derisive nickname quickly became a template. Throughout the year, more white women who called the police on their black neighbors for seemingly trivial reasons were tagged with copycat labels like "Permit Patty" and ..read more

Names change with the times, reflect the times, and help shape the times. These three names all helped define the times of 2018. Photo: Getty Images Abcde. In November, an outraged mother accused a Southwest Airlines gate agent of publicly "name shaming" her five-year-old daughter. Seeing the girl's unconventional name, the agent laughed and pointed and commented loudly to other employees. Most shockingly, the agent took a photo of the young girl's boarding pass and posted it to social media. The incident became a viral sensation, focused on the name itself: Abcde. The alphabetic name Abcde ..read more

Oh, those hidden o's. They're the special ingredient in hot names from Margot to Willow to Pharaoh. End a name in the sound "o," but not the letter o, and you have a recipe for high style. The final o may be cloaked by a silent letter, as in Harlow and Shiloh, or an alternate spelling may lead to a similar sound, as in Beau. The effect of the spelling is subtle, but it shapes the name's impact. Think of how different Harlow and Arlo feel, despite being just a breath apart in pronunciation. I first talked about hidden o's when they started rising in girls' names. Parents loved the unconvention ..read more

The sound of the times in girls' names is freshness with a liquid grace. It's no surprise, then that Hawaiian names are on the rise, both in the Hawaiian Islands and throughout the United States. Their distinctive flow is a perfect twist on current style, and captures the imagination, too. If you're looking for genuine Hawaiian girls' names that are currently popular in Hawaii, you can scroll down now to browse the list. But if you'd like a little more background on Hawaiian names, read on. The Hawaiian language is built from a small set of sounds, including very few hard or rough-edged conso ..read more

Familiar names, rare names. The two are opposites. Yet a handful of names manage to hit both contradictory targets, and zero in on the style bullseye at the same time. I've uncovered 15 examples of girls' names that have flown consistently under the radar. Not only are they rare today, but they've never been popular in the United States. None has ever ranked among America's top 300 girls' names, a bar low enough that even names like Elva and Floy have crossed it. That makes them true individuals, names that your daughter could feel she had full ownership of. At the same time, each name is ple ..read more

Ready to make a time capsule of the year, in name form? It's time to choose the 2018 Name of the Year—together. Our annual Name of the Year honors the way that names change with the times, and the way they capture the times. Looking back at past NOTY choices, you can feel the movement of culture and history: Barack in 2007; Siri in 2011; even Boaty McBoatface in 2016. The honorees have included names of babies and adults, of real people and fictional, of idealized concepts and viral jokes. But they've all had one thing in common. They were nominated by BabyNameWizard.com readers. As you thin ..read more

It turns out the Mayflower passengers inspire us in more than their persevering spirit and incredible vision. Embarking in 1620, parents from Delfshaven, Holland and London, England sailed the Atlantic at great risk in order to establish a New World. While many of them liked traditional names such as William and Mary, there are plenty of surprises among the baby names chosen by these first colonists. Photo: Getty Images GIRLS ABOARD THE MAYFLOWER Remember What the Pilgrims intended for a moral lesson, we now think of as nostalgic and sweet. Unfortunately, this name is so far out-of-the-box ..read more