Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Add Upworthy to your Google News feed.
Google News Button

A new year is upon us, and so is a fresh batch of baby boy name trends for 2025. Just like trending baby girl names in 2025, inspiration for baby boy names this year is coming from multiple sources–country cowboys, family trees and more. Throughout the years, baby boy name trends have evolved. Michael reigned as the top name in the 80s and the 90s, Jacob in the 00s, and Noah in the 2010s. While it can be hard to nail down exactly which baby boy names will prove to be standouts, one way to guess is by taking a look at recent baby boy name data.

Most Recent Popular Baby Boy Names
Since 1924, the Social Security Administration has been tracking the most popular boy names in the United States. While the top names of 2024 have yet to be released, these are the top 10 baby boy names from 2023:

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. Oliver
  4. James
  5. Elijah
  6. Mateo
  7. Theodore
  8. Henry
  9. Lucas
  10. William
Since 2017, Liam has remained the most popular baby boy name in the United States. In previous years, the most popular baby boy name was Michael–which remained at the top 44 times. From 1949-2010, it could be found in the top 5 names each year–but has since fallen off.

Country Rebrand
Names inspired by the Old West and its rugged cowboys will see a major renaissance in 2025. "One of the biggest trends we’ll see for baby boy names in 2025 are 'Country Rebrand' names," Sophie Kihm, editor-in-chief of baby-naming site Nameberry, told Good Housekeeping. "Cowboy-style names have been in fashion this decade, but the cohort of Country Rebrand names goes past last names as first names like Carter and Tate. This new group embraces names that were once considered hokey, like Abner and Hiram; names from non-English cultures like Navarone and Santos and even 'bad boy' country names associated with outlaws like Jessejames."

She adds that the key to nailing country names in 2025 is to "think last names as first names like Carter and Lawson, or place names west of the Mississippi such as Denver and Dakota."

Here are a few country-inspired baby boy names to consider:

     
  • Crockett
  • Enoch
  • Ephraim
  • Harlan
  • Hatcher
  • Huck
  • Jethro
  • Lyle
  • Truett
  • Waylon

Athletes
Professional athletes will continue to be a big source for baby boy names in 2025, according to BabyCenter. From ballers to Olympians, those with athletic prowess (and Super Bowl rings) might top the charts. These include:

     
  • Brock
  • Christian
  • Creed
  • Isiah
  • Louis
  • Patrick
  • Raphael
  • Travis
  • Trent

Patrick MahomesTouch Down Kansas City Chiefs GIF by NFL On PrimeGiphy


"E" Names
BabyCenter predicts that "E" names for baby boys will have a comeback. BabyCenter notes that one name, Emrys, recently made its first-ever appearance in the top 1,000 boy names in the United States. Others gaining popularity include:

     
  • Easton
  • Edgar
  • Eliel
  • Elijah
  • Eliseo
  • Emir
  • Enrique
  • Everett
  • Ezra

Croc Names
Nope, these aren't inspired by crocodiles–rather, the divisive shoe that has fashion camps taking sides. Crocs are either the best shoe ever, or the ugliest. "Their namesake shoes — foam, perforated clogs in loud hues — are now so ugly, they’re beautiful. Croc Names intend to make the same transition," writes Kihm. And these Croc Names, usually from older generations and rendered from family trees and lineage, are coming back in 2025:

  • Clarence
  • Clyde
  • Ernest
  • Gilbert
  • Harold
  • Howard
  • Isadore
  • Morris
  • Murray
  • Oswald
  • Simeon
  • Tyrone
  • Vernon
  • Virgil
  • Wilbur
sportsfootballsportnfltouchdownchiefskansas city chiefskctdkansas citykc chiefschiefs kingdompatrick mahomesmahomesnational football associationchiefskingdomgo chiefslets go chiefstouch downpat mahomeschiefs wintouchdown chiefstouchdown kansas citytouchdown kc

The Latest

The receptionist at a hotel.
Past Events

Entitled hotel guest refuses to accept reality, so employee takes her on a wild ride

Mom, mom and son, working mom
Past Events

Toddler's sweet messages for working mom on doorbell cam melts hearts

Collage of a man holding a baby Shiba Inu and that dog howling at the moon
Past Events

A man walked across Japan for 256 days, then fell in love with an adorable Shiba Inu

Eric Clapton
Past Events

Unearthed Eric Clapton interview reveals devastating details that inspired "Tears in Heaven"

More For You

Gay teen asks friend's mom permission to attend girls-only sleepover. She handled it beautifully.
media.upworthy.mattersmedia.io

Gay teen asks friend's mom permission to attend girls-only sleepover. She handled it beautifully.

For many young people, sleepovers have long been cherished occasions to bond with close friends - sharing late-night chats, snacking on treats, and revealing deep dark secrets. It's within these intimate gatherings that unbreakable connections and lifelong friendships are often forged. When Mason Brian Barclay's new best friend, Houston Shelton, invited him to a sleepover at her house, he was eager to take part in this rite of passage. However, Houston's parents had instituted a strict no-opposite-sex rule, meaning only girls were allowed.

Undaunted by the gender-based restriction, Barclay decided to directly appeal to Houston's mother, making a thoughtful case for why she should allow him to participate. "Hey, Mrs. Shelton! This is Mason Brian Barclay, I am one of Houston's new best friends. If she had people over on Friday, would I, a very homosexual male, be able to take part in the sleepover?" he asked her in a text message. "I think the common meaning behind only allowing the same sex to share sleepovers is due to the typical interest in the opposite sex when in this case, I do not like the opposite sex."

Keep ReadingShow less
thinking, brain trick, regulate emotions
man holding his head while sitting on chair near computer desk
Photo by Jason Strull on Unsplash

Neuroscientist shares simple brain trick successful people use to tackle hard things 'almost effortlessly'

Regulating emotions can be a challenge for nearly every human. Struggling with emotional baggage or problems can prevent you from accomplishing your goals, tasks, or dreams–personal or professional. To help you overcome emotions that may be weighing you down, neuroscientist and psychologist Ethan Kross, PhD, has a simple tool that can help you called WOOP. It's a tool inspired by the work of psychologist Gabriele Oettingen.

Dr. Kross has studied how the brain regulates emotions for more than 25 years, and has helped highly successful people (from CEOs to Navy SEALs) tackle hard things and accomplish their goals. WOOP has been studied to have a number of incredible benefits for adults, including reducing stress and engagement at work, improving time management, weight loss, and more. He lays out below what WOOP stands for:

Keep ReadingShow less
A man and woman kissing in the kitchen

Welcome to the "Boy and Girl apartment" trend

Unsplash

Women living in beautiful apartments share their secrets to co-habitating with a boyfriend

Blending styles can be difficult. Naturally, when two or more people are brought together, their visions aren’t always going to mesh. Like getting a haircut then realizing, after they spin you around for the big reveal, that your barber actually didn’t “totally get” the inspiration photo you brought in. Or teaming up with some friends for a group project in school who you didn't realize were petrified of public speaking. Or, take One Direction for example. Five solo singers who at didn't get along at all at first, brought together only after Simon Cowell corralled them all into a boy band.


Keep ReadingShow less
airport, flying, airport travel
person standing with holding luggage bag
Photo by Danila Instalook.ru on Unsplash

Psychologist reveals exactly why everyone acts weird at airports

Fewer places bring out weirder human behavior than airports. Sleeping on floors? Acceptable. Paying $8 for a bag of chips? Acceptable. And 9 a.m. beers? Totally acceptable. Time (and personal space) seems to suspend itself when you're traveling in them. And psychologist Steve Taylor, a Senior Psychology Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, explained exactly why everything and everyone feels so weird when you're in an airport with The Conversation.

Simply put: airports cause disorientation. "Due to the haziness of time and place, airports create a sense of disorientation," he explains. "We define ourselves in terms of time and place. We know who we are in relation to our daily routines and our familiar environments. We also define ourselves in terms of nationality. Without such markers, we may feel adrift."

Keep ReadingShow less
10-year-old violin prodigy stuns airport travelers with flawless Vivaldi duet
Representative photo by Canva

10-year-old violin prodigy stuns airport travelers with flawless Vivaldi duet

A beautiful blend of talent, courage, and classical music left Rome Airport travelers in awe when a 10-year-old violin prodigy, Yeonah Kim (@yeonah_kim_violin on Instagram), performed an impromptu duet with pianist Julien Cohen. The duo’s breathtaking rendition of Vivaldi’s “Summer” turned the airport’s Terminal 1 into an unexpected concert hall, captivating both onlookers and millions of viewers online.

  Representative photo by Sebastian Mark | Unsplash 

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025