According to the Social Security Administration’s May 8, 2026 release and analysis of the raw 2025 birth data files, American parents named their children with a clear directional tilt in 2025. While Liam and Olivia held the top spots for the seventh straight year, the real movement happened below the top 10. Parents moved toward names that evoke light, fire, clarity, strength, and uplift.
Liam remained number one for boys and Olivia for girls. Charlotte climbed to second for girls. Eliana entered the top 10 for the first time. Ava dropped out of the top 10. The top tier changed little. The story lives in the risers and decliners.
Raw count changes from 2024 to 2025 show strong movement toward specific themes. Ailany surged by 4,530 babies. Klarity rose from 87 to 344. Madisson climbed from 203 to 958. Scottie jumped from 1,519 to 2,228. Eloise gained 808. Other notable risers included Kasai (fire), Akari (light/brightness), Ailani, and several “lani” names meaning sky or heaven in Hawaiian. These names share traits: bright, energetic, clear, or expansive, with positive or noble connotations.
Several names tied to the previous cultural wave lost ground. Zendaya fell from 281 to 195. Aubrie dropped from 258 to 163. Many “-den” names (Aiden, Dylan, Jordan) continued sharp declines. Luna, Mia, Camila, and Ava all lost significant absolute numbers. Parents pulled back from 2010s celebrity-linked and heavily stylized spellings while embracing stronger or more luminous alternatives.
Strauss-Howe generational theory places the United States in the late stages of a Fourth Turning, a Crisis era marked by institutional strain and cultural pessimism. The model predicts this phase will resolve into a new High, a period of renewed optimism, stronger institutions, and civic confidence, likely in the 2030s and 2040s. The 2025 babies belong primarily to the Homeland Generation, the Artist archetype. Their Millennial parents are already giving them names suited to the coming High. Light, fire, clarity, and sky/heaven names fit a cultural mood that values hope, strength, and illumination over cynicism or fragmentation. These children will come of age between 2045 and 2055, precisely when the next High should be established.
Baby names function as a leading indicator because parents make emotional, long-term bets on the world they want their children to inhabit. The 2025 data shows a clear move away from grimdark-adjacent aesthetics and toward noble bright values: clarity over moral grayness, light and energy over darkness, strength and uplift over stylized coolness. After years of dominance by cynical, morally complex narratives, parents appear ready for stories and values that emphasize hope, heroism that costs something, and light that actually prevails.
Writers can use this data in two practical ways. First, character names for stories set in the 2040s or 2050s will feel more natural when they draw from the current riser list rather than names that peaked during the 2010s Unraveling. Second, themes of clarity, fire, light piercing darkness, and rebuilding strong foundations will likely resonate more deeply with audiences as the cultural mood continues shifting.
Sources:
SSA Popularity Increase Table 2024–2025
SSA Popularity Decrease Table 2024–2025
Strauss-Howe generational framework as outlined in *The Fourth Turning Is Here* (Neil Howe, 2023) and related analysis
Thomas: My wife is a name nerd. Christmas Day for her is when the Social Security Administration releases their spreadsheet. We have incredibly good name data going back almost 150 years because when they first started collecting this data around 1916, they captured everybody alive at that time. My wife can tell you any name and which decade it was most popular. While she can do it explicitly, most people subconsciously know that a Barbara would not be a baby name today. That is a grandma name.
Female names ebb and flow in popularity. Some male names do not. John has been a steady top-15 name in America for all time, but Bob has fallen off. You very rarely find a young Bob.
The trend is very clear. It is toward bright, energetic, optimistic names. The “Aiden” names from the 1990s, like Jayden, Brayden, and Hayden, are falling off. Tristan is declining. Zendaya fell off a cliff. Ellen dropped dramatically after the Ellen DeGeneres drama. Luna, Maya, Camilla, and Ava have all lost significant numbers.
The very top names are holding steady. Liam and Olivia are still popular. Charlotte is gaining. I am very curious whether we will see a surge in Charles next year, as parents name their children Charlie after Charlie Kirk. We saw a rise in the name Charlie, but Kirk was killed in September, and parents tend to pick names early in the pregnancy. We will not see the Charlie Kirk effect in any meaningful way until 2026 data.
Eliana entered the top 10 for the first time, and Ava dropped out. I think Ava is dropping because there are so many AIs named Ava in fiction. It is a very common AI persona name.
Jonathan: I wonder how much popular franchises like Bridgerton, which is a faux Jane Austen revolution, have contributed to the return of names like Eleanor, older-sounding names that would seem like grandma names. If they are being used in these universes and are young and attractive again, you are going to see a resurgence.
Thomas: This data is public. You can chat with AI about the numbers. In general, AI is very familiar with this data because it is not proprietary. This is very American. A lot of countries in Europe legally forbid certain names, particularly the Germanic countries, which have approved lists of perhaps 100 names. I have a friend from Germany who named his daughter a fantasy name that is against the law in Germany, and there was a big drama over her getting a German passport.
