While some take inspiration from their favourite films or music when deciding on baby names, in general the British public remains relatively conservative with its choices.
According to a recent survey of the UK’s most popular baby names, Oliver and Amelia were the most popular names, with other relatively traditional names filling out the rest of the top ten for 2015.
The royal names of William, Harry, and George all made the top ten most popular boy names for 2014, but it appears that the monarchy has less of an impact on names for girls, as neither Elizabeth nor Charlotte made the grade.
In the US people tend to be more inventive with their choice of baby name, and according to the Baby Center some found inspiration in their favourite band (Zeppelin), singer (Lorde), film character (Quorra), car (Audi), food (Honey), and spice (Saffron). Yet more found their creative spark from clothing (Denim), perfume (Dior), animal (Wolf), booze (Hennessey), colour (Cyan), and phrase (Yolo).
Celebrities are also a good source of creative names, with Frank Zappa famously naming his daughter Moon Unit in 1967 often credited with starting the trend. Following in his footsteps were celebrities who named their children the likes of Moxie Crimefighter (Penn Jillette), Audio Science (Shannyn Sossamon), Blue Angel (U2’s The Edge), Ocean (Forest Whitaker), Sage Moonblood (Sylvester Stallone), Pilot Inspektor (Jason Lee), and Apple (Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay’s Chris Martin).
However, not all celebrities have been quite so inventive with their choice of names. The majority follow the same relatively traditional naming options as the general public, and some do not even put in that amount of effort, such as with David Duchovny and Tea Leoni when they named their son Kyd.
