More and More Parents Are Naming Their Babies After TV Characters and Popstars

The Office for National Statistics in the UK has delved into the data around baby names from 2014 and it seems winter is indeed coming.  Pop culture-loving parents are more and more likely to name their children after their favourite TV characters, with fantasy epic Game of Thrones leading the way in inspiration. Thanks to the HBO show, names like Khaleesi, Daenerys, Arya, Sansa and Brienne are all in consideration, with babies most likely to be named after the fearless Arya (244 babies in 2014). For baby boys, Theon (18 babies), Tyrion (17) and Bran (4) are all options for new parents. Interestingly, Theon and Bran have tracked each other in popularity after each book release throughout the noughties. It seems we really can't let it go when it comes to Frozen either, with 804 Annas born in 2014 and 537 Elsas welcomed into the world. Even Kristoff and Olaf made a splash on the charts with 3 and 52 babies’ names respectively. This is the first year Kristoff has appeared in the rankings. Pop stars rise and fall in popularity in accordance with their albums, with Rita, Drake and Azalea all providing inspiration in 2014. When it comes to the One Direction lads, Niall is the least name popular of the five. An incredible 5,379 babies were named Harry in 2014, while there were 999 Louis', 902 Liams and 231 Zayns. The omnipresent Kardashians have an impact on trends too, with 106 baby girls christened Khloe, 80 named Kendal, 35 called Kourtney and only 19 called Kim.