It’s not surprising to hear that a pop culture phenom has ushered in a wave of brand new baby names. The influx of children named Khaleesi, Katniss, or Hermione prove that geeky and pop culture-inclined parents get some serious name inspo off of their favorite fandoms. And it seems that the huge wave of love for the Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally started to rub off onto the next generation.
According to Yahoo, babies born in 2017 had quite the Marvel flair–something that is only likely to increase after the smash MCU hits of 2018, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. So what heroic names have parents given to their progeny? The big numbers go to the more mild-mannered MCU-inspired names: 5,833 babies born last year got their spidey senses early when their parents named them Parker. There also were 355 Natashas born last year as well as 128 babies born named Pepper. For those thinking of less quiet young ‘uns, the name Wade has also made a comeback with 899 kiddos bearing the namesake of the Merc with a Mouth.
Of course, though those names might be shared by some of our favorite heroes or our favorite CEOs of Stark Industries, they are pretty normal names. You could argue that though the influx of those names was probably attributed somewhat to the MCU, it’s probably not all Marvel’s influence.
And frankly, a lot of parents wanted that inconspicuously nerdy name for their kids. However, some parents wanted to be sure their kids loved the MCU from birth, and went with some more in-your-face MCU names. In 2017, we got a serious influx of tricksters when 96 Lokis were born into the world. Luckily, we have nothing to fear because while we got a flood of Lokis, 63 babies were also named Valkyrie. But Valkyrie isn’t the only hero to have children named after her. Other Marvel-inspired baby names that entered the world in 2017 were Rocket, Quill, Drax, Nebula, and everyone’s favorite archer, Hawkeye.
T’Challa and Shuri didn’t make the 2017 list, but if names like Drax and Nebula made the list for 2017, I think we can expect 2018 to hold some serious Wakandan representation in the baby name department. So for all of you elementary and pre-school teachers out there, get ready to have some of the earth’s mightiest heroes in your classrooms in the next few years.
Would you ever name your kid after a Marvel character (or have you already)? If so, which ones? Tell us in the comments!
Feature Image: Marvel/Disney
Gif Credit: Total Film/Giphy, WiffleGif/Giphy
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