The Most Popular Celebrity Baby Names of the Millennium
Celebrities have tremendous influence in the U.S. They impact the clothes we wear, the food we eat and the hairstyles we choose. As it turns out, they’re also trendsetters when it comes to baby names.
Compared to the average American, celebrities are more experimental when it comes to naming their children (see: Blue Ivy). While some celebrity baby names catch on like fire others fail to gain traction.
Using data from the Social Security Administration, MooseRoots ranked the most popular celebrity baby names since 2000. Most of these names were either unpopular or nonexistent before getting their celebrity bump.
Without further ado, here are the trendiest celebrity baby names.
Meadow
Newborns Named Meadow | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Paul Walker & Rebecca Soteros
The name Meadow was almost nonexistent in the U.S. before Paul Walker announced the birth of his daughter in 1998. Since then, the name has risen in popularity. After a drop in the late 2000s, the name rebounded in 2014 after Walker’s death.
Bodhi
Newborns Named Bodhi | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Megan Fox & Brian Austin Green
Bodhi was already trending up, but Megan Fox and her husband gave the name a major boost when they announced the name of their son in late 2013. Bodhi’s middle name Ransom has yet to catch on.
Shiloh
Newborns Named Shiloh | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
The popularity of the girl’s name Shiloh exploded after Brangelina’s daughter was born in 2006. Shiloh is the first of three unusual baby names from the power-couple to make this list.
Moses
Newborns Named Moses | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin
Paltrow and Martin opted for a more “traditional” name when they decided on Moses; their first child is named Apple. While the name Moses has yet to gain serious traction in the U.S. it had a serious spike in 2006 after Paltrow and Martin revealed their child’s name.
Rocco
Newborns Named Rocco | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Madonna & Guy Ritchie
When Madonna and Guy Ritchie announced the birth of the their son Rocco in 2000, the name was barely in use. Since then, the number of Rocco’s in the U.S. has increased sevenfold, despite a recent downward trend.
River
Newborns Named River | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Kelly Clarkson & Brandon Blackstock
River is actually more common as a boy’s name, but Kelly Clarkson went against the grain and used it as her daughter’s name. The number of girls named River has risen rapidly over the last decade and is at an all-time high in the U.S.
Deacon
Newborns Named Deacon | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Reese Witherspoon & Ryan Phillipe
The name Deacon was already gaining momentum in the U.S. by the time Witherspoon and Phillipe named their son in 2003. The celebrity couple gave the name an even greater push.
Milan
Newborns Named Milan | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Shakira & Gerard Pique
After Milan Pique Mebarak was born in 2013, the popularity of the name skyrocketed in the U.S. The total number of boys named Milan has quintupled in just two years.
Ace
Newborns Named Ace | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Jessica Simpson & Eric Johnson
As a boy’s name, Ace has gained substantial momentum in the U.S. Still, the name has struggled to gain popularity overseas.
Gia
Newborns Named Gia | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Matt Damon & Luciana
Gia peaked in 2011 with 1,055 total newborns in the U.S. and has since dropped off in popularity. Will the name be able to rebound from its recent dip?
Gideon
Newborns Named Gideon | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Neil Patrick Harris & David Burtka
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka went biblical with their son’s name. Although the name was already trending up, the couple certainly gave it a boost in 2010.
Romeo
Newborns Named Romeo | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Victoria & David Beckham
The boy’s name Romeo has become dramatically more popular in the last decade. The name has trended up in both the U.S. and England, where the Beckham’s are from.
Haven
Newborns Named Haven | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Jessica Alba & Cash Warren
Jessica Alba and Cash Warren may have saved this unusual name from losing steam. When the couple announced the birth of their daughter in 2011, the name recovered from its dip and became more popular than it had ever been before.
Knox
Newborns Named Knox | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
Looking at the graph, it’s easy to pinpoint when Knox Jolie-Pitt was born: 2008. Since then, the name has seen a remarkable rise in usage, reaching a high of 1,238 newborns in 2014.
Finn
Newborns Named Finn | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Owen Wilson & Caroline Lindqvist
Finn is trending up all over the world. Although the name has yet to crack the top 200 in the U.S. it is already in the top 100 in Belgium, Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Switzerland.
Everly
Newborns Named Everly | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Channing Tatum & Jenna Dewan
As one of the biggest stars in Hollywood today, Channing Tatum boosted the popularity of the girl’s name Everly when he and his wife announced the birth of their child in 2013. The name continues to grow each year.
Luna
Newborns Named Luna | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem
There’s no doubting the star-power of Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. But some of Luna’s success is also likely attributable to the popular Harry Potter character Luna Lovegood.
Willow
Newborns Named Willow | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couples: Will Smith & Jada Pinkett-Smith/Pink & Carey Hart
When Will Smith announced the name of his daughter in 2000, he was one of the biggest movie stars in the world. The name received an extra boost in popularity after Pink and Carey Hart named their daughter Willow in 2011.
Jaden
Newborns Named Jaden | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Will Smith & Jada Pinkett-Smith
Although the name Jaden has been dropping in popularity since 2007, there’s no denying the remarkable success it had following the birth of Will Smith’s son in 1998. In 2007, an impressive 6,249 newborns were named Jaden, making it one of the most popular boy’s names in America.
Abel
Newborns Named Abel | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Amy Poehler & Will Arnett
The biblical name Abel has done well since the former couple named their son in 2010. Interestingly, the name Cain is trending up as well, but still lags behind Abel.
Maddox
Newborns Named Maddox | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
Pitt and Jolie are one of the most creative celebrity couples when it comes to baby names. Remarkably over 2,500 newborns were named Maddox in 2014, pushing this boy’s name to the number seven spot.
Axel
Newborns Named Axel | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Will Ferrell & Viveca Paulin
Will Ferrell and Viveca Paulin opted for popular Swedish names when naming their sons Axel, Magnus and Mattias. The name Axel may have also received an assist from Fergie and Josh Duhamel, who named their son Axl.
Poppy
Newborns Named Poppy | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Anna Paquin & Stephen Moyer
The girl’s name Poppy has yet to gain any traction in the U.S. But the name is a hit in the U.K., where Stephen Moyer is originally from.
Roman
Newborns Named Roman | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Cate Blanchett & Andrew Upton/Debra Messing & Daniel Zelman
Both of these celebrity couples named their son Roman in 2004 so it’s difficult to see who had the bigger impact in the name’s popularity. What is clear is that the name is on the rise in the U.S.
Leo
Newborns Named Leo | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem
After ruling in the 1920s, the boy’s name Leo took a major dip for the rest of the century. But now Leo is making a comeback, thanks in part to the celebrity backing of Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.
Levi
Newborns Named Levi | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Matthew McConaughey & Camila Alves
The number of newborns named Levi spiked after Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves announced the birth of their son in 2008. Levi is now the 45th most popular boy name in the U.S.
Mason
Newborns Named Mason | MooseRoots
Celebrity Couple: Kourtney Kardashian & Scott Disick
Kourtney Kardashian can’t take full credit for the popularity of Mason—the name had been trending up before she named her son in 2009. But there was an incredible spike after 2009, where the number of newborns named Mason nearly doubled in two years. In 2014, Mason was the third most popular baby name in the U.S.
