"Game of Thrones" baby names are more popular than ever
A girl has a name — and now, so do a lot of other girls.
"Game of Thrones" baby names are surging in popularity, and new data from the Social Security Administration published Friday, shows they are more popular than ever before. Thousands of babies born in 2018 were named after characters from the popular HBO show.
The name Arya ranked 119th for female names, making a significant jump from 942nd place in 2010 - the year the show debuted. But another spelling of the name, Aria, was much more popular in 2018, ranking 19th.
Khaleesi, the title given to wives of nomadic warlords, rose nearly 100 spots in 2017, ranking 549th. Yara made one of the largest increases last year, jumping a few hundred spots to 672nd.
While more babies are being named after the show's female characters, there's been a downturn in babies named after its male characters.
The name Jon has decreased in popularity over the last 20 years. It ranked 354th in 2000, but 754th last year. Jaime is also down in popularity among both male and female babies, while Jamie is up.
The federal agency only publishes data on names given to five or more babies in a given year, so it's possible there are one or two Hodors out there somewhere. Some other big characters, including Cersei, Missandei, Melisandre, Podrick, Gendry and Joffrey, also failed to make the ranking last year.
Here are the number of kids born in 2018 with the most popular — and least popular — "Game of Thrones"-inspired names:
- Arya: 2,545
- Khaleesi: 560
- Jaime (male): 547
- Yara: 434
- Lyanna: 319
- Jon: 311
- Meera: 191
- Daenerys: 163
- Shae (female): 108
- Jaime (female): 73
- Renly (male): 59
- Tyrion: 58
- Lady: 45
- Renly (female): 43
- Brienne: 33
- Jorah: 30
- Sansa: 29
- Catelyn: 21
- Shae (male): 17
- Ellaria: 17
- Oberyn: 15
- Nymeria: 15
- Theon (male): 14
- Gregor: 11
- Shireen: 11
- Ramsay (male): 10
- Sandor: 10
- Khal: 9
- Summer: 9
- Bran: 8
- Beric: 8
- Theon (female): 7
- Bronn: 7
- Samwell: 7
- Myrcella: 6
- Aegon: 6
- Benjen: 6
- Ramsay (female): 5