STEM-inspired baby names see surge in popularity - including Astra and Darwin

24 October 2023 , 08:07

706     0

It's not easy to find the perfect name for your baby (Image: Getty Images)

Finding the perfect name for your baby is one of the hardest decisions you'll make. Not only is it the first symbol of their identity, it's something that will define them for the rest of their life. But it's not only the child reflected by the name - so too are the parents.

More often than not, a baby's name gives a clue to the type of parents they have; be it traditional, quirky, or inspired by current trends.

Most recently, we have seen a rise in the number of babies with STEM-names, chosen by parents with a connection to either science, technology, engineering, or maths.

So what kind of names are proving popular amongst parents with high IQs and an interest in these disciplines? Here are some of the top STEM-inspired names for 2023, according to experts at Nameberry.

• Astra

  Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him

• Darwin

• Hutton

• Kepler

• Kuiper

• Linnea

• Lumen

• Moon

• Mars

• Nova

• Octavia

  Tragedy as 13-month-old boy dies after the stolen car he was in crashed

• Seven

• Zenith

Stem-inspired names aren't the only big trend this year. There has been a huge increase in unisex names. In England and Wales, the number of names considered unisex has increased by a whopping 56%, with new parents opting for gender-neutral baby names that are inclusive while still being nonspecific.

So what are the fastest-rising unisex names in England and Wales? Top of the list for girls is Marlowe, which has moved up 266 spots from 2020-21. The name - spelt without the 'e' - also made it onto the boys' top 1,000 for the first time. Noa also appears on both lists, up 190 spots for girls. The boys' list, meanwhile, features Ren and Ocean, also both new to the Top 1,000, and Sunny, which is up 195 places.

Disney-themed names may be a trend to watch out for with , according to Sarah Redshaw, the UK Managing Editor for BabyCentre. She told "It's a possibility that parents may take the lead from celebrities and their recent Disney-inspired names. Molly-Mae Hague and named their newborn daughter Bambi, and Stacey Dooley called hers Minnie so we could see an increase in searches for Disney names."

Another unexpected trend seems to be wild west-inspired names. Sarah claims this is a move that none of the name experts ever saw coming, but it seems expectant parents just can't stop searching their website for monikers that would be fit for a little cowgirl or cowboy. As such BabyCentre believes we can expect to see more babies named Billy, Butch, Wyatt, Pearl, Daisy and Clementine being welcomed into the world.

Gemma Strong