You want to pick the perfect name, with no unfortunate nicknames and one they’ll grow to love themselves.
According to research more than a quarter (26%) of UK parents admit they worried about regretting their child’s name and 24% said they struggled to agree on a name.
To give parents some naming inspiration, the mother and baby retailer JoJo Maman Bébé has enlisted the help of baby name consultant Colleen Slagen to reveal 2024’s most popular names.
They’re also revealing which names are at risk of becoming extinct and what the naming predictions are for 2025.
Colleen Slagen shared the top 20 baby names that have gained traction in 2024:
Outside of these 20 names, Colleen explained the history behind the up-and-coming naming trends.
Shorter names will be trending in 2025 due to their effortless charm, she said.
“Various trends are happening simultaneously and this overall theme of variety is what defines naming a child in the 2020s.
“Look out for Margot in 2025 as people are looking for feminine, classic-sounding alternatives to the top 10 girls' names, and names like Margot, Eloise, and Vivian fit the bill.”
“A few of the trends I’m seeing right now that I expect to see more of in 2025 are short and effortless names for both boys and girls.
“For example, 1-2 syllables and 3-4 letter names like Cal, Mack, Vann and Case for boys and Navy, Indy, Drew, and Reya for girls.
“As much as I get requests for longer names with great nicknames, I get just as many requests for effortless names that don’t require a nickname (and may feel like a nickname). Names ending in ‘o’ are big for boys and names ending in ‘a’ are big for girls.
“Short names can feel brisk, but an ending vowel softens them which appeals to many people. Milo and Hugo sound like sweet, gentle kids as opposed to Banks or Knox which have a cool-guy feel.”
The biggest naming trend predicted for 2025 is gender-neutral names and traditional boy names for girls:
“Surnames will be on the rise for both genders and more gender-neutral names for girls will gain popularity.
“I think we’ll start seeing more traditional male names being chosen for girls such as Drew, Noah and Dylan.
“I used to get a lot of requests for gender-neutral names that lean feminine, however, now I get more and more requests for true “boy names” for girls.
“The biggest trend I see for 2025 is what I call “My Best Friend’s Dad” names: Scottie, Tommie, Markie, Mickey, and Billie.
“People are also leaning more toward gender-neutral names for boys. The names I’m currently hearing are Darcy and Kit (more for girls but for both genders).”
