BabyCenter.com has released its survey of the top 2015 baby names from data from more than 340,000 parents in the world. It says its survey is “unofficial,” because Social Security also has a list that is supposedly “official.”
There seem to be three identifiable sources of new popular baby names in 2015.
First, all the articles on line listed Lux as the most popular new name, saying that millennial parents are looking to Instagram filters to name their children.
Now this Grandma was at a loss. I had no idea what an Instagram filter was. Apparently millennial parents do, so we grandmas should learn what they apparently use as a source of the names of our potential grandchildren.
This Grandma is on Instagram due to the oldest grandson who specifically requested that I take a picture of his Instagram pictures for his annual photo album. He showed me how to do this. But he never told me about any Instagram filters. So, of course, this Grandma went to Wikipedia and looked up Instagram filters. Here is what I learned. Pay attention as you grandmas out there may find that your grandchild may be named after something you never knew existed. Wikipedia teaches us that “filters modify the images recorded.”
Here are the Instagram names of “photographic filters that users can apply to their images” and what they do from Wikipedia. Be happy your new grandchild is not named for the Instagram filter “Normal” or “1977” or “Earlybird.”
“Normal: No filter applied
1977: The increased exposure with a red tint gives the photograph a rosy, brighter, faded look.
Amaro: Adds light to an image, with the focus on the centre.
Brannan: Increases contrast and exposure and adds a metallic tint.
Earlybird: Gives photographs an older look with a sepia tint and warm temperature.
Hefe: Hight contrast and saturation, with a similar effect to Lo-Fi but not quite as dramatic.
Hudson: Creates an “icy” illusion with heightened shadows, cool tint and dodged center.
Inkwell: Direct shift to black and white – no extra editing.
Kelvin: Increases saturation and temperature to give it a radiant “glow”.
Lo-fi: Enriches color and adds strong shadows through the use of saturation and “warming” the temperature.
Mayfair: Applies a warm pink tone, subtle vignetting to brighten the photograph center and a thin black border.
Nashville: Warms the temperature, lowers contrast and increases exposure to give a light “pink” tint – making it feel “nostalgic”.
Rise: Adds a “glow” to the image, with softer lighting of the subject.
Sierra: Gives a faded, softer look.
Sutro: Burns photo edges, increases highlights and shadows dramatically with a focus on purple and brown colors.
Toaster: Ages the image by “burning” the centre and adds a dramatic vignette.
Valencia: Fades the image by increasing exposure and warming the colors, to give it an antique feel
Walden: Increases exposure and adds a yellow tint.
Willow: A monochromatic filter with subtle purple tones and a translucent white border.[94] X-Pro II: Increases color vibrance with a golden tint, high contrast and slight vignette added to the edges.
Slumber: Desaturates the image as well as adds haze for a retro, dreamy look – with an emphasis on blacks and blues.
Cream: Adds a creamy look that both warms and cools the image.
Ludwig: A slight hint of desaturation that also enhances light.
Aden: This filter gives a blue/green natural look.
Perpetua: Adding a pastel look, this filter is ideal for portraits.”
“Lux: Recently Instagram has added a new feature when editing photographs. The button with a picture of a sun is known as the Lux effect. This tool allows you to quickly adjust the exposure and contrast through a simple 100-point slider. This new version of editing allows you to control the brightness to the saturation levels of each photograph.”
This Grandma was curious how the filters got named. Yes, Wikipedia sort of answered the question. “There is no universal standard naming system for filters. “
So, which Instagram filters garnered the 2015 most new popular names? Lux is the most popular name derived from Instagram filters, which rose 75% on the list of baby boy names compared to last year. Boy name? This Grandma was sure it would be a girl name. Other 2015 instagram filter popular names for boys were Ludwig, Amaro, Reyes, Hudson and Kelvin. 2015 Instagram filter popular names for girls were Juno, Valencia and Willow.
This Grandma cannot wait to see what Instagram filters become influential in 2016. Now, we grandmas in the know are prepared for 2016.
The second group of popular new baby names in 2015 refer to the television show Empire as an important source. This Grandma is not familiar with the show, so you guessed it. I went to Wikipedia. Empire is about “[a] hip-hop mogul [who] must choose between his three sons who are battling for control over his multi-million dollar company, while his ex-wife schemes to get what’s hers.”
According to Wikipedia, here is the main cast and their names:
“Terrence Howard as Lucious Lyon, a former drug dealer turned hip hop mogul and the CEO of Empire Entertainment, whose life begins to cave in around him after his past sins come back to haunt him following his being diagnosed with ALS. Lucious has a fiancée, Anika, but his ex-wife, Cookie, intends to tear them apart.”
“Taraji P. Henson as Loretha “Cookie” Lyon, Lucious’ outspoken ex-wife and mother of his three sons, who served a 17-year stretch in prison for drug dealing. She sees herself as the sacrificial lamb for Empire Entertainment, which she built with Lucious, but then took the fall for when she was arrested for running the drugs that financed Lucious’ early career. Upon her return from prison she is determined to bring the Lyon family back together and reclaim her share of Empire Entertainment.”
“Jussie Smollett as Jamal Lyon, the middle son and “black sheep” of the Lyon family, a talented, gay singer-songwriter who despises the corporate aspect of the music industry and is estranged from his homophobic father. Jamal is considered Cookie’s favorite and has a strong relationship with his brother Hakeem.”
“Trai Byers as Andre Lyon, the eldest son of the Lyon family and CFO of Empire Entertainment. He is Wharton educated, power hungry and suffers from bipolar disorder. He is also married to his college sweetheart, Rhonda. He plans to run Empire, but is in a battle for the head chair with his younger brothers.”
“Bryshere Y. Gray as Hakeem Lyon, the fame-obsessed youngest son and Lucious’ favorite child, who is a hip hop star on the rise. Hakeem starts to find feelings for his mother, Cookie, and has a great relationship with Jamal. He is also Tiana’s ex-boyfriend and Camilla’s ex-lover.”
“Grace Gealey as Anika Calhoun, former head of Empire Entertainment A&R and Lucious’ ex fiancée. Cookie and Anika share an extreme dislike for one another,with Cookie referring to Anika as the derisive nickname “Boo Boo Kitty”.”
“Malik Yoba as Vernon Turner, Lucious’s longtime friend and business partner, and chairman of Empire Entertainment. (season 1).”
“Kaitlin Doubleday as Rhonda Lyon, Andre’s power-hungry wife.”
“Ta’Rhonda Jones as Porsha Taylor (season 2, recurring: season 1), Cookie’s assistant Gabourey Sidibe as Becky Williams (season 2, recurring: season 1), executive assistant to Lucious at Empire Entertainment.”
“Serayah McNeill as Tiana Brown (season 2, recurring: season 1), an artist at Empire Entertainment and Hakeem’s ex-girlfriend.”
Now that we know all about the television show, Empire, this Grandma worried that it was “Boo Boo Kitty” that made the list for 2015 popular names. Fortunately, it was not, but there is always 2016. The name Royalty increased 88% in popularity for girls, as well as Dre 77%, Lyon 6% and Hakeem 55%. The name Lucious returned to the 2015 BabyCenter most popular baby name list for the first time in three years. This Grandma would have guessed that Charlotte, a real princess’s name, would have been the newest most popular name rather than Royalty, but it seems because Royalty is being used as gender neutral it is up 90% in 2015. Other royalty like names are popular in 2015: Duchess (up 75% from 2014) Reign (up 54%) and Sultan (up 25%). Again, we grandmas in the know are prepared for 2016.
The third category of a source for 2015 most popular baby names seems to be the names of stars and planets in our solar system. The most popular planets include Venus (up 68%), Jupiter (up 50%), and Sunny (up 43% for boys and 18% for girls).
Now that we have examined the source of the 2015 new popular names, let’s get to the most popular names. Sophia is the most popular baby girl name. For the third year in a row, Jackson is still the most popular baby boy name. For the fourth year in a row, Emma and Olivia remain two and three.
Here is BabyCenter.com’s 10 most popular girl names of 2015
Sophia Emma Olivia Ava Mia Isabella Zoe Lily Emily Madison
Here is BabyCenter.com’s 10 most popular boy names of 2015
Jackson Aiden Liam Lucas Noah Mason Ethan Caden Logan Jacob
We grandmas can sigh a sigh of relief if we see our grandchildren’s names on the most popular list, or not. It really does not matter what our grandchild’s name is. We could hate the name, but the minute we see and hold our new baby grandchild, the name is the most beautiful name in the world because our grandchild is the most beautiful baby in the world.
Joy,
Mema