Despite my twins being on the cusp of turning 13 (and with no more bambini planned!), I still love stories and stats about baby names. The latest one comes courtesy of research from Regtransfers, a provider of personalised number plates, and reveals a trend in naming children after figures from classic myths and legends.
Baby names for boys inspired by ancient mythologies
Analysing registered baby names in the UK from 1996 through to 2022, Regtransfers has discovered some interesting trends.
While baby names like Leonidas, Odin and Osiris were pretty much unheard of in the 90s and early 2000s (similarly Hera, Persephone and Juno), the data reveals a gradual increase in names from a number of ancient mythologies such as Greek, Norse and Egyptian.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe might be in part to thank for a portion of this movement. Characters like Thor, Loki and Odin arrived to the silver screen as early as 2011, and seemingly boosted interest in naming children after these mythological figures.
Leonidas, on the other hand, saw a rise in interest as a baby name after 2007 – coinciding with the release of 300. It’s a similar story for the name Achilles (played by Brad Pitt). Although this is a much less popular choice.
In boy’s names, there’s also been a gradual rise in popularity of names like Ares – Greek god of war and courage – and Apollo, who was one of the most important of the Greek gods.
Baby names for girls inspired by ancient mythologies
The trend isn’t limited to boys. When it comes to selections for girl’s names between 1996-2022, there are a number of examples of a recent surge.
It makes sense that a goddess such as Artemis should see a surge in popularity as a girl’s name. Historically, she has been recognised as the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation and, perhaps most fittingly, childbirth and care of children. Her Roman counterpart, Diana, has also seen an increase in popularity over time.
Athena, goddess of war, has become increasingly prevalent as a baby name – a possible nod to the rise in the societal importance of female empowerment. While the name Freya (the Norse goddess of love, fertility, beauty, war, death, gold, and magic) has historically been one of the more popular names associated with mythology, there has been a renewed interest.
Juno has been recognised as the Roman goddess of marriage, queen of the gods, and a protector of the Roman state. In 2008, however, Elliot Page starred as the lead character of the same name in the eponymous comedy-drama movie.
TV and silver screen inspiration
Elsewhere, there are other examples of characters from the silver screen inspiring the UK’s baby names. The name Jax was exceptionally uncommon. That was until our introduction to Jax Teller in 2008 as the lead character of the US biker drama Sons of Anarchy. After this, an average of 232 boys have been given the name each year.
Similarly, an average of just 14 girls per year being given the name Arya at birth increased to an average of 275 per year. This was after Maisie Williams’ Arya Stark hit our screens in 2011 in the HBO smash hit TV show Game of Thrones.
“These are just a few examples of cultural phenomena that seem to have had an impact on the popularity of names, and it’s interesting to see how certain names can rise as a result of entertainment media – for example, the name Neo didn’t seem to exist until the release of The Matrix in 1999; now, between 50 to 100 baby boys named Neo are now born every year.” – Regtransfers CEO Mark Trimbee
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Methodology
Data gathered from ONS.
About Regtransfers
Regtransfers, the UK’s leading private number plate supplier, has over four decades of industry expertise. Established in 1982 by Tony Brown, they are officially registered with the DVLA and offer an extensive selection of over 50 million personalised registration plates.
