Baby names like Juno, Lux and Willow are on the rise this year – but does it have something to do with a social media app?
According to BabyCenter’s annual baby names survey, the photo-sharing platform Instagram seems to be behind a surge in these names and more – including Reyes, Ludwig and Valencia – since they’re all the names of popular Instagram photo filters and tools.
Lux is up in popularity by 75 percent for boys and slightly up for girls, too. Ludwig is up by 42 percent and Amaro by 26 percent. For girls, Juno is up 30 percent and Valencia gained 26 percent, BabyCenter reports.
But some baby (and filter) names, on the other hand, saw a decrease – including drops in popularity for names like Sierra and Walden.
The apparent trend has been reported on everywhere from CNN to Vogue, and not everyone is impressed.
“If you’re naming your kids after Instagram filters … you’re probably too young to be having kids,” user Megan wrote in a comment on Refinery29.
Others point out that some of the Insta-names aren’t exactly brand new.
“Names are getting weirder and weirder,” user sas318 commented on another article. “Swell. Ludwig, way to bring back an 1800s German composer’s name to modern day society in a world full of hip names like Ryan, Connor and Aidan.”
Personally, I’m not so sure Instagram can even take the credit for the boost in several of these names. Willow and Juno, for example, are great names that were no doubt on the rise before they became the titles of Instagram filters. Reyes is a Spanish baby name meaning “kings” and Valencia is a Latin name meaning “brave.”
Isn’t it possible that the filter names themselves were based on current naming trends?
And what about the parents who might have other reasons for considering one of these names? It’d be a shame for parents to avoid a name they love because they have to worry what others will assume about its inspiration.
Whatever the case, one thing is clear: We all probably care a little too much about what other people name their kids. Sure, it’s interesting to read about baby-naming trends and it’s always fun to see which names are topping the charts each year. But whether people are criticizing names that may or may not have been inspired by Instagram filters or going nuts over the latest less-than-common celebrity baby name, people just seem a little too invested in something that doesn’t really affect them.
Would you consider naming your baby one of these increasingly popular names? Tell us in the comments!
