Talk about embracing the Dark Side. In the United States, the name Kylo – inspired by the character Kylo Ren introduced in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens – has become the fastest-growing baby name. Luke Skywalker would be so disappointed.
According to a new report, Kylo has jumped up considerably from the previous popular names list ahead of December’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. One can only assume that Adam Driver’s villainous character would be quite pleased with this development.
Pop culture has long been a major influence when it comes to baby names. Just last year, Kehlani became an increasingly popular girls name. No so coincidentally, singer/songwriter Kehlani Parrish was nominated for a Grammy in 2016.
Neither name can be counted among the most popular, but the two did jump more sports than any other names. Kylo rose 2,368 spots to number 901 while Kehlani jumped 2,487 spots to number 872. But pop culture can also have the reverse effect on a name as well.
One year after Caitlyn Jenner announced her new name and gender, the name’s popularity fell more than any other name, according to Social Security’s annual list of the most popular baby names.
Actually, the four names that fell the most were all variations of the same name: Caitlin, Caitlyn, Katelynn, and Kaitlynn.
“It was inevitable,” Laura Wattenberg, founder of BabynameWizard.com, said. “Caitlyn was already falling in popularity. Now it is suddenly controversial.”
The Social Security Administration released its annual list of the 1,000 most popular baby names for 2016 on Friday. The agency uses the announcement to drive traffic to its website, where workers can start tracking their benefits long before they retire.
For the third year in a row, Emma topped the list of girls names, followed by Olivia, Ava, Sophia, and Isabella. For the fourth year in a row, Noah was the most popular boys name, followed by Liam, William, Mason, and James.
But I think we can all agree, none of those names are as cool as Kylo. Let’s just hope all of these babies don’t grow up to impale their fathers with lightsabers (spoiler alert).
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will hit theaters on December 15.
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