Zyair and Jaxtyn might be the highest risers, but what about the more unfortunate group? Which names are the ones that are slipping further and further by the years? Which names have taken an unexpected turn for the worst? We're about to see! Of course, this isn’t entirely representative. Sure, Noah might lose 7,000 babies with the name in a year, but stays in the spot while a name like Colton might lose 450 babies but be tenth on the list. Those aren’t realistic examples, but the point being is that this depends entirely on the number of spots climbed or slipped. If you haven’t seen the Trending Girl names or Trending Boy Names article (or Victorious Top Ten!), I strongly suggest that you start with those first. I had a bit of an issue with the subscriber emails lately, and I believe that's all patched up now, but that might've resulted in some of you not realizing that the beginning of the series was out. Now, I have yet to view this data before writing this--believe me, it took a lot of self control--so if you’re looking at this with fresh eyes, I am as well. Dear readers, buckle up, and let’s dive right into the names that no longer appeal to parents as much as they used to.
The Most Dramatically Dropping Boy Name of the Year: Vivaan
The boy name that took the most perilous fall this year was sadly Vivaan. A Hindi name with definite promise, Vivaan took a hard fall of 378 spots, banishing him from the top 1000 once more. Vivaan has plenty of positive aspects that could persuade parents to choose him once more. He has a couple Vs which make him stand out from the crowd, a fairly intuitive pronunciation, and cool look overall. Not only that, Vivaan means “full of life,” which is just the absolute sweetest, a perfect meaning for a bouncy, lively toddler, springy, alert baby, or cheerful and active child. A meaning like "full of life" can seem sweet and appropriate for many families. But I fear that his downfall was imminent. Not only is his spelling relatively ambiguous, particularly within communities that aren’t used to Indian names or Hindi phonetics, he also might be mistaken for a girl. Vivienne and Vivian for little girls are both starting to come back. Actually, they both peaked in 2015 and have been slightly dropping ever since, which may contribute in part to Vivaan’s descent as well. If you don’t read very carefully, a childcare worker or teacher may be calling your little boy Vivienne/Vivian, which of course, is less than desirable when you choose the name Vivaan, not Vivian, for a reason. And as I mentioned before, Vivian’s sounds aren’t really quite in style anymore. They’ve been falling consistently for a reason, and that’s because the Viv- sound isn’t really trendy anymore. For a name like Vivaan, that’s pretty much a curse to fall further out of the top 1000. Even despite this fate, I still think that Vivaan can be a lovely option for plenty of parents.
The Top Ten Most Dramatic Droppers:
Alexander might’ve slid into the Top 10 this year, but alternative spelling Alexzander didn’t enjoy quite the same success. If you prefer Zander with a Z over the Xander with a X variation, than Alexzander might be a brilliant way to get the full name you want with the spelling of short form you desire as well. Plus, it offers more differentiation between the nicknames Alex and Zander, lending itself more easily to nicknames, at least visually. But Xander as a full name ranks at #187 compared to Zander’s #280, making the X version more popular. And it’s no wonder why. Xs are much preferred to Zs in boy naming. But this desire for X over Z might be what cost Alexzander his #888 status. Underneath him at #3 is a name that fell 259 spots, Javion. Javion peaked in 2008, at the time when Jayden and Jayven were dominating, and Ayden and Kaiden were backing them up. The name has been slipping ever since, year by year, and it’s this year that finally knocked him down and out of the top 1000 at #1212. I’m not surprised by this, given how we’re slowly peeling away from the Ayden names. Aiden was such a smashing hit, he’s taking a very long time to lose his hold on mainstream naming. But if you’re a huge fan of Ayden names, and especially Jayden, but want something slightly different, Javion may be for you.
For #4, Reyansh is on the chopping block. One of the fast risers of past years, this Indian name meaning “ray of light” is sweet and has a spectacular meaning that is sure to make any parent proud of their little beam of sunshine and happiness. However, Reyansh rose too far, too fast to stick, and he’s dropped from #804 to #1062. Right below him sits a diminutive of a name that has long been plummeting: Kenny. A Kenneth short form, Kenny’s fall was inevitable. With Kenneth falling farther and farther, there’s no way Kenny’s earning any points from his descending full form. And his sound-alikes aren’t any help to his now #1094 rank either. Fellow nickname name Benny dropped out of the top 1000 by 2006, and Benjamin just gave up an elite Top 10 position, so it’s only a matter of time before we see Kenny fall farther.
Yisroel, a Yiddish variation of the Hebrew name Israel, is the sixth farthest faller of the year. He was a name that frequented the trendiest name lists for a while, beloved for that attractive -el ending. However, he heated up so fast that he reached his limitations too fast and burned out, bumping him down from his #884 in 2018 a whole 190 spots to #1074. Underneath Yisroel is a name that I was convinced would rise, not fall, this year: Marquis. If you obsessively have listened to Hamilton like I have for the past two years, then you know that Lafayette introduces himself as a Marquis. It’s a title name, similar to Duke or King, and we love those, so why didn’t this Hamilton boosted title name rise this year? And even more interesting, why did he fall? I suppose that the short form Mark isn’t exactly in fashion, but that’s about all I can come up with to reason with Marquis’s #1145 in 2020 data. If you have any ideas or insight, leave that in the comments below, but I’m stumped. Moving on, we have #8 Toby, another drop that I seriously didn’t anticipate. Tobias just keeps climbing, and is currently at a decent #268. Perhaps the full form, Tobias, is just getting more use than Toby? Parents who love Toby are selecting Tobias for their sons instead of the short form, resulting in the decline in baby Tobys. And this is quite odd, but the example I had done before, Colton, has an alternative spelling, Kolten, who claims #9. Colton by himself ranks at #66, and the K spelling with an -on ending ranks at #444, but Kolten has recently been kicked down by his other spellings below the surface of the top 1000. Colton peaked in 2019 and has begun falling, so one theory for why this occurred might be that all of the spellings took a fall, so the one that was least popular was naturally booted from the top 1000 in a chain reaction as each of the Colton variations fell a bit, pushing their brother name out altogether. Finally, #10 is Castiel, the result of Caspian, Cassius, Cassian, and, of course, the show Supernatural. Pronounced Cas-tee-el, this name is actually quite stylish sounding. However, the show that it was made popular by, Supernatural, aired its last episode last year, which stopped consistently putting the name in parent’s heads as they brainstormed names for their child, explaining Castiel’s 170 spot drop.
Some Fading Trends I’ve Spotted
Something that’s really stuck out to me that’s present a lot in the Falling trends list and not at all present in the Trending names list is the -ian ending. Javion, Simeon, Adrien, and more appear on the list of the most dramatic droppers, leading me to believe that -ian may be fading quite significantly. Meanwhile, I’ve also picked up on dated nickname names in particular falling, more so than their full forms. Kenny, Ronnie, Kody, Billy, Terry, and Joey all plummeted as opposed to Kenneth, Ronald, Terrance, William, or Joseph. Part of that is that William and Joseph are so classic, it’s hard to get rid of them. But for Kenneth, Terrance, and Ronald? That’s a puzzling trend to watch. I'd love to hear your interpretation of falling trends below in the comments if you're in the mood to share! That’s all for now, everyone, but that you so much for tuning in once more. I appreciate having you all around for the crazy ride of the SSA data, and I hope I’m giving you a good sense of the stats so far. Next up? Falling Girls, the last installment of this series. Again, if you haven’t read the first three, they’re right up front on my homepage. Thanks for reading, friends, and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day!
Sincerely,
-Delphina Moon