Study Shows ‘Hendrix’ Among USA’s Most Common Music-Inspired Baby Names
A new study has revealed the most popular baby names inspired by musicians in the United States. In an ironic twist, rapper DaBaby is not on the list, but iconic rock legend Jimi Hendrix is.
Confused.com analyzed U.S. government data of the baby names officially recorded in 2021 and have given us the Top 10. Some of this is going to be open to interpretation about which musician the name came from, as some musicians share the same name (DUH.) Also, this is broken down by the most common gender related to the name which may slightly under-represent the artist's influence.
Finally, if we're to believe that all these kids were inspired by musicians, parents are more inclined to name their daughters after musicians than their sons. Let's begin.
1. Camila - 8005 girl babies. Confused.com says pop singer Camila Cabello "has popularized the name so much" that the name will continue to be in demand.
2. Willow – 5143 girl babies. The study notes Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's daughter has actually caused the name to be on the rise since Willow was born in the year 2000.
3. Ariana – 2967 girl babies. Credited to singer Ariana Grande, the name is from Italian origin and means "most holy."
4. Taylor – 1533 girl babies. Taylor Swift is considered to be the inspiration here, but why not the late great Taylor Hawkins?
5. Selena – 1443 girl babies. Presumably pop star Selena Gomez, but also a nod to the enduring popularity of the "Queen of Tejano music," singularly known as Selena.
6. Hendrix – 1243 boy babies. The study says the surname of Jimi Hendrix, the greatest guitarist who ever lived, gets a bump due to " the 'x' ending becoming trendy in recent years."
7. Zayn – 1220 boy babies. Zayn Malik from the boyband, One Direction. It's been climbing in popularity since he struck out on his own in 2016.
8. Prince – 969 boy babies. "Purple Rain" Prince or the heavy metal madman "Prince of Darkness" Ozzy Osbourne?
9. Mariah – 937 girl babies. The ever over-exposed Mariah Carey. Future generations will not only have to hear "All I Want For Christmas Is You" every holiday season but they will have to bear her name as well.
10. Travis – 842 boy babies. Confused.com plugs rapper Travis Scott as the reason for the 10th most popular music-inspired baby name, but there is no reason to think it's not Blink-182 drummer/married-to-a-Kardashian Travis Barker.
For perspective, keep in mind that the total number of babies born in the U.S. in 2021 was about 3.6 million, according to the CDC. So it's not like every other kid is named Camila, Hendrix, etc.
We found a big oversight in the study! The most popular boy baby name in 2021 was Liam. 20,272 baby boys (and 30 baby girls) were dubbed Liam last year. Head-nod and pint-chug in the direction of Oasis rock star Liam Gallagher, who opened the recent Foo Fighters Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in London over the weekend.