9 Baby Names Nobody Was Using 5 Years Ago—but They're About To Be Everywhere
Baby name trends are always changing, and what was super common at one point can quickly fade as new monikers rise in popularity. But sometimes it's hard to see the trends emerging until they hit the absolute top of the charts. So Parade spoke with a professional baby name consultant to get the details on rising baby names that you'll start seeing everywhere—despite them hardly being used at all just half a decade ago.Colleen Slagen, who goes by @namingbebe on Instagram, is a baby name consultant and author of the book Naming Bebe: An Interactive Guide to Choosing a Baby Name You Love. Since she professionally helps parents choose names for their little ones, she's very well versed in the trends and sees which monikers are starting to climb the ranks. The rising names she's seeing these days were hardly on anyone's radar even five years ago.Per Social Security Administration data, in 2020, some of the top baby names for boys were Liam, Noah, Oliver, Elijah and William. For girls, the most popular monikers were Olivia, Emma, Ava, Charlotte and Sophia. Though most of those names are still commonly used today, several others have started climbing their way through the charts—and Slagen has her eye on them.Related:
"Scottie is one of those names that just caught fire. To me, it gives off the exact same air as the name Charlie for girls, which has become very popular," Slagen tells Parade.She notes that while Scottie wasn't present in the top 1,000 baby names in 2020, it now ranks at 202 for girls. "I'm not sure I have seen a name climb that fast," she says.The rise could have been helped out by influencer Allison Kuch and her husband, former NFL player Isaac Rochell, naming their daughter Scottie in 2023. Slagen adds that Scottie combines a few rising name trends, like gender-neutral monikers, nicknames as full names, and unique options that still don't feel "too unusual."
"This name started buzzing after the show Yellowstone aired in 2018—it was the surname of the family featured in the show," Slagen says. She adds that it's now risen in popularity as a first name for baby boys, explaining, "Dutton now ranks 736, while it was not even in the top 1,000 five years ago."Related:
Though Winona consistently ranked for baby girls in the first half of the 1900s, it dropped off the charts after 1957. Now, Slagen says it's "starting to creep up in popularity." It ranked 738th for girls in 2024. Slagen loves it for its bold, vintage feel "with a playful, wearable nickname in Winnie."Related:
"The comeback of Lottie speaks to the 100-year rule: The idea that names cycle back into fashion every 100 years," Slagen says. "It's Grandma-chic! It's also a way to make the very popular Charlotte feel a bit more unique."She notes that Lottie now ranks 676th for girls, whereas it didn't land in the top 1,000 just five years ago.
"I'm certainly hearing [Rocky] much more than I did five years ago, and we can attribute that to Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker, who used it for their son Rocky Thirteen in 2023," Slagen says. As a boys' name, Rocky climbed around 200 spots from 862nd place in 2020 to 657th in 2024.
Slagen sees Miller following the trend of surnames being used as given names. "While names like Parker, Cooper and Carter are now mainstream, top 100 names, Miller has a very similar vibe and people are turning to it as a less common alternative with great nickname potential," she says.Miller made both the girls' and boys' top 1,000 list in 2024, whereas in 2020 it only ranked for boys (and about 260 spots lower).Related:
"Elowyn is one of the most surprising ones to me," Slagen reveals. "However, there is nothing people love these days more than a name that starts with 'El,' and parents are turning to more unique options as names like Eleanor, Ellie, Ella and Eloise have become more popular."She adds that Elowyn has an "appealing nickname option in Wynn/Wynnie." The moniker ranked 447th for baby girls in 2024, despite not cracking the top 1,000 in 2020.
"This ranked 915th in 2019 and now ranks 366th," Slagen says about the growing popularity of this boys' name. "When a unique name is rising in popularity so quickly, it really stands out. I see this on so many lists now and I think the appeal is that it's a less common alternative to more popular surname names that end in 's' like Brooks or Miles."She adds that it can also be used as a girls' name, which Hilary Duff did with her daughter Banks Violet in 2018.
"This name appeared out of thin air," Slagen says. "There are a few pop culture references that could have helped boost it, but it's very in line with the rugged, western-sounding names that people are loving right now."She adds that it can also be seen as "an edgier alternative to the more popular Colton." In 2024, Colter ranked 218th for baby boys, compared to 972nd in 2020. According to Slagen, that's "an astronomical jump in the name world."
These monikers all show a lot of promise despite their rare usage half a decade ago, so there's no telling how high they could climb on the charts in just a couple more years!
Up Next:Colleen Slagen is a baby name consultant and author of the book Naming Bebe: An Interactive Guide to Choosing a Baby Name You Love. Find her on Instagram @namingbebe.
9 Baby Names Nobody Was Using 5 Years Ago—but They're About To Be Everywhere first appeared on Parade on Jun 26, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 26, 2025, where it first appeared.
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