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‘Game Of Thrones’ Has Prompted Several Baby Names, Arya Being The Most Popular

By Caitlin Albers
Published on: 04:11 PST, May 11, 2019

The Social Security Administration released some very interesting data regarding baby names from 2018, NBC News reports. As always, pop culture had a serious influence on the names of babies born last year, and one of the biggest contributors was HBO’s Game of Thrones. The hit drama series has been influencing baby names for years now, but it looks like 2018 was its biggest yet.

The new data shows that over 4,500 children were given Game of Thrones inspired names in 2018, with NBC News noting that number does not include Jons and Jaimes. Those names have been popular enough on their own for decades, and it’s impossible to determine if babies with those names were given them because of the show, or for other reasons.

As far as the most popular baby name inspired from GoT, that honor went to Arya. It should come as no surprise as Arya has always been one of the series’ most standout characters, and is a symbol for female empowerment and strength for fans all over. The numbers for Arya should only rise next year, seeing as how the character has become a fan-favorite for slaying the Night King two episodes ago.

The official list for GoT inspired names can be found below, including how many babies were given the name in 2018.

  • Arya: 2,545
  • Khaleesi: 560
  • Yara: 434
  • Lyanna: 319
  • Shae: 125
  • Renly: 102
  • Jory: 72
  • Tyrion: 58
  • Brienne: 33
  • Jorah: 30
  • Sansa: 29
  • Catelyn: 21
  • Ellaria: 17
  • Oberyn: 15
  • Nymeria: 15
  • Ramsay: 15
  • Theon: 14
  • Aerys: 14
  • Gregor: 11
  • Shireen: 11
  • Talisa: 11
  • Sandor: 10
  • Khal: 9
  • Olenna: 9
  • Rennick: 9
  • Daenerys: 8
  • Bran: 8
  • Beric: 8
  • Brynden: 8
  • Myranda: 8
  • Bronn: 7
  • Samwell: 7
  • Myrcella: 6
  • Aegon: 6
  • Benjen: 6
  • Ghita: 6
  • Martyn: 6
  • Meryn: 6

These 4,500+ names were from 3.8 million babies born in the United States, which were “given more than 29,000 distinct names.” Names are only reported if five or more babies are given the same name, which means there could be dozens of other GoT baby names out there, including Hodor, and maybe even a Cersei or two.

Thankfully Cersei was missing from this year’s data, but unfortunately, it wasn’t in 2017. During that year, 11 baby girls were named Cersei, which is hopefully the last time it lands on the charts. It’s also worth mentioning that there were several variations of Khaleesi in 2018, with different spellings ranging from Caleesi to Khaleesie.

Jorah made waves in 2018, with the name traditionally being given to girls in the United States. Last year, Jorah was given to 80 boys, thanks to Ser Jorah Mormont.

Tyrion has been one of the Game of Thrones-inspired names landing on the charts back in 1997 after George R.R. Martin released the first book in his popular series. After 2019, the GoT trend is expected to die down with the show’s retirement this year.

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