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Pippa Gaining Ground on Top Baby Name List in 2011

by Lesley Kennedy (Subscribe to Lesley Kennedy's posts)
Jul 27th 2011 11:00AM

137Comments

Filed under: In The News, Baby Names, New In Pop Culture, Celeb News & Interviews

pippa middleton

Pippa Middleton. Credit: Getty Images

She's been capturing headlines all over the globe since her famous sister Kate became British royalty, and now Pippa Middleton is sparking a baby naming trend, too.

Reuters reports the baby name website Nameberry analyzed 23 million page views of baby name pages on various naming sites and found celebrities are having a serious impact on the monikers folks are bestowing on their little ones.

"Five years ago, I might have said that the biggest overarching factor was personal meaning, now the biggest factor is celebrities," Nameberry's Pamela Redmond Satran tells the news service.

True, Isabella, Sophia and Emma were the top names for girls last year, with Jacob, Ethan and Michael winning out among boy names, but names such as Pippa, Elula (the name actress Isla Fisher and actor Sacha Baron Cohen chose for their daughter), Mila (as in "Black Swan" actress Kunis) and Flynn (the name of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr's son) are gaining steam.

"There is a culture of the celebrity baby," Satran tells Reuters. "The whole world goes on name watch. By not telling the name, it becomes a big news event."

Satran tells the news service the number of searches for a baby name can help predict how popular that name will become.

Nameberry compiled a list of hot names so far for 2001, posted on Today.com. Here's what people are searching.

Pippa: "Both the familiar Pippa and the more formal Philippa is the Number 1 hottest baby name of the year on Nameberry. Pippa ranks 35 on our most-searched list so far this year, after not appearing at all among our 200 most popular girls' names of 2010. While Kate is up too, it's not nearly as hot as Pippa.

Asher: "The soft, Biblical Asher takes the Hottest Boys' Name spot by virtue of having unseated Henry as the all-time Number 1 name for boys on Nameberry."

Elula: "Elula, the unusual Hebrew calendar name chosen by Isla Fisher and Sasha Baron Cohen for their second daughter, was not even in our database last year and now is the Number 38 most-searched name on Nameberry."

Everett: "The popularity of Everett, up 50 places on our most-searched list, was inspired by such stylish girls' choices as Eva and Evelyn."

Hadley: "The success of the bestselling novel 'The Paris Wife' has catapulted the intriguing name of Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson, 50 spots up our list this year over last."

Arlo: "... Arlo, as in folksinger Guthrie, (is) enjoying a popularity surge. Other o-ending names for boys heating up in 2011: Nico, Hugo, Otto."

Mila: "It's the name of a gorgeous young star, Mila Kunis, PLUS it resembles a handful of trendy names -- Mia, Maya, Lila -- that are due for a hiatus."

Flynn: "Finn is already hot, but cousin Flynn, baby name choice of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr, is taking off."

Ada, Adele, Adeline, Adelaide: "If it's a vintage girls' name that starts with Ad-, it can't miss this year, it seems."

Archer: "Archer, as in Henry James' 'Portrait of a Lady' and Edith Wharton's 'Age of Innocence,' is perfect: It's unusual, classic yet contemporary-feeling, and there's no danger of anyone actually having read the books."

Luna: "The real hottie launched by the Beckham name quest was otherworldly Luna, the name rumored to be their girls' pick for most of Posh's pregnancy."

So, don't be surprised if the kindergarten class of 2016 is full of Pippas, Milas, Elulas and Flynns. Kinda sounds like a new sort of British invasion, now, doesn't it?

Tags: baby names, celeb baby names, celebrity baby names, elula, flynn, mila, mila kunis, pippa, pippa middleton, pippa name

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