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Even if you aren't bringing a child into the world, it's fun to peep the most popular baby names. Baby name trends come and go every year, decade and era. And for sweet baby girls, there have been many former frontrunners. From the reign of Heather in the 80s, Jessica in the 90s, Emily in the 00s, and Emma during the 2010s, they're always evolving.

Entering into 2025, the baby girl name scene is getting inspo from pop culture (including pop stars) and nature. And as Gen Z begins to have babies, they're also brining their influence to the table. While it can be hard to nail down exactly which baby girl names will prove to be standouts, one way to guess is by taking a look at recent baby girl name data.


Most Recent Popular Baby Girl Names
Each year since 1924, the Social Security Administration releases the top baby names. While the top names have yet to be released for 2024, these were the top 10 baby girl names in 2023 in the United States:

  1. Olivia
  2. Emma
  3. Charlotte
  4. Amelia
  5. Sophia
  6. Mia
  7. Isabella
  8. Ava
  9. Evelyn
  10. Luna
Since 2019, Olivia has held the #1 spot on the list. And since 1924, the name Mary has held the top spot a record 32 times. However, the name last appeared in the top 5 back in 1967–a testament to ever-evolving name trends.

Olivia RodrigoPeace Drivers License GIF by Olivia RodrigoGiphy

'Baby Names, Literally'
One surprising baby girl name trend you may see more in 2025 is a move away from 'adult' sounding names towards more youthful ones.

"For girls, 'Baby Names, Literally,' are one of the fastest-growing trends," Sophie Kihm, editor-in-chief of the baby-naming site Nameberry, shared with Good Housekeeping. "Nickname names like Scottie, Lottie, Nori and Dolly are playful choices in this trend, along with novel word names like Wednesday, Echo, Posey and Blossom." The site released its list for their predications on baby girl name trends in 2025, noting that 'baby names' inspired by influencers and celebrities (such as Nara Smith’s Whimsy Lou). A few popular 'Baby Names, Literally' include:

  • Aqua
  • Bunny
  • Dovie
  • Georgie
  • Honey
  • Lilibet
  • Lula/Lulu
  • Pixie
  • Willa
  • Zelie
  • Zuzu
Pop Culture and Pop Stars
Pop girlies will continue to infiltrate baby girl names in 2025, per BabyCenter. Chart-topping artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish have created a bump in popularity for both names. Movies and television will also continue to inspire baby girl names in 2025, including Riley (from Inside Out 2) and Rain (from the Alien franchise). Pop singer Chappell Roan has also inspired feminine and feminist names thanks to her hit "Femininomenon". Those include:
  • Amaryllis
  • Aurelia
  • Circe
  • Cordelia
  • Cosette
  • Emerald
  • Lavender
  • Lavinia
  • Lilith
  • Ophelia
  • Rhiannon
  • Seraphina

Sabrina CarpenterSabrina Carpenter Hot Ones GIF by First We FeastGiphy

Nature
A back-to-basicsand connection to nature is another baby girl name you may see in 2025. "Landscape names particularly appeal to parents in search of frills-free names that are easily understood, but not endemically popular," Kihm wrote. "They’re also inherently gender-neutral, a strong selling point for many contemporary namers." A few nature-inspired baby girl names include:
  • Cloud
  • Coast
  • Isle
  • Oak
  • Prarie
  • Shore
  • Vale
  • Valley
Outer Space
Names from the great beyond may also be more popular in 2025. BabyCenter notes that names including Sol, Eclipse, Luna, Aurora and Nova are all celestial baby girl names that have seen bumps in recent years. Nameberry agrees, with sci-fi also inspiring baby girl names–and suggests the following may be chosen:
  • Arwen
  • Aura
  • Cielo
  • Ember
  • Indigo
  • Journey
  • Lumen
  • Solstice
  • Valkyrie
  • Vesper
Gen Z
Gen Z (those born in 1997 and onward) are bringing the letter 'Z' back into fashion. Kihm notes that names with 'Z' offer a softer sound. These include:
  • Azalea
  • Azure
  • Hazel
  • Itzel
  • Mazie
  • Zainab
  • Zaya
  • Zinnia
  • Zuri

More For You

A gay man in Vegas was approached by a 40-year-old stranger asking for advice on raising his son

A gay man in Vegas was approached by a 40-year-old stranger asking for advice on raising his son

Jack Remmington got a surprise he says he’ll never forget. While playing the slots in Las Vegas he and his friend were approached by a middle-aged man they had never met who wanted to know if they were gay. Although it was a relatively safe public space, you never know what might happen in a city fueled by alcohol, sex and gambling.

Source: GIPHY

Instead, the man who approached Remmington wanted to ask some perfectly wholesome advice about communicating with his young son whom he thinks is probably still in the closet. Remmington wrote about the interaction on his Twitter page and the breakdown has quickly gone viral for the best reasons. “Ok I just experienced the nicest exchange with a stranger and think it’ll help to share: I was playing on the Mariah Carey slots in Vegas (naturally) and a friendly circa-mid-40s ish guy sat down to play on the machine next to me,” Remmington wrote.

"I was sitting with @marcoalessifilm, both wearing pink (naturally) and after chatting a little to the guy about Vegas, he nervously asked if he could ask us a question. I knew where this was gonna go as it always does so did a bit of an inner eye roll but indulged him anyway."

"He then asked if we were together so we said no (we’re best friends and he has a fab bf) and he asked if we were gay, so we said yes. He then said he thinks his 13 year old son might be gay and wondered if he could ask us how best for him to navigate that."

"He lit up when talking about his son, and I nearly started crying at how much he clearly loved him. The guy wanted to know how to make his son feel most comfortable about himself whilst not being too overt and glaringly obvious in forcing a conversation about his sexuality."

Source: GIPHY

"This man is SO sweet. From rural Arkansas and said whilst things are so much better now, he still just wants the world to be totally equal for his son. Marco and I said he sounds like he’s doing all the right things and that making his son know he’s loved is the best he can do."

"We both gave a couple of anecdotes from personal experience, largely relating to condoning abstract things when you see them like normalising conversations around gay kisses on TV or calling our family conversations that might shame potential queerness."

"We also mentioned not accidentally policing things so as to shame him - for instance, often out of a sense of protection and love parents can frown on a child’s behaviour or outfit because they’re worried for their safety when on a night out etc."

Source: GIPHY

"But we stressed that if this was their feeling it’s important to vocalise this exactly, rather than leaving the child ruminating over the parent’s intentions and second guessing why they said what they said."

"So in terms of advice to friends or relatives of a potentially queer person, what would fellow queers advise is the best way to make it known they have their love and support without causing an uncomfortable conversation that might force someone to come out before they’re ready?"

You can read the whole thing on Remmington’s Twitter thread, here.

While it’s understandable that he and his friend were apprehensive about being approached, the exchange goes a long way toward showing we should never make too many hard assumptions about people based on their appearances alone.

Even in 2024, not every parent, child or friend has a safe space to educate themselves on LGBTQ issues.

Obviously, it would be ideal if this random guy had a friend, family member, or educator who could give him the advice he was looking for but we have to salute Remmington for being so generous and kind in his response. There’s so much we can learn from each other when we take the time to ask questions -- and listen.

Source: GIPHY

“My first impression was that he seemed nice as he chatted which is more than what tends to happen with people you sit next to in Vegas at the slots. That said, I didn’t expect it to take this turn at all,” Remmington said in an interview with Bored Panda.

“The relationship between him and his son has a 100% future – he was a wonderful and caring man, despite what he said was quite a difficult town to grow up in if you’re at all different. I wish all fathers could be like him.”

This article was originally published five years ago.

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