Marvel-inspired baby names are on the rise, and these were 2017’s most popular
Back on May 13th, musician Pete Wentz revealed that he and his longtime girlfriend named their new baby daughter “Marvel Jane” — and they’re not the only parents who’ve been inspired by superheroes lately. When it comes to naming a newborn, Marvel character names are on the rise. Based on the massive financial success of both Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War this year, this shouldn’t come as too much of a surpise.
Based on the 2017 national data from the U.S. Social Security Administration, some unusual contenders made the list. For example, 96 babies were named Loki last year (and they weren’t all boys — there’s five lady Loki’s taking their first steps somewhere in the world right now). And instead of Valerie, the super feminist Valkyrie — which you may recognize from Thor: Ragnarok — was given to 63 little girls. And while we’ve heard Parker before, it’s definitely possible that Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) inspired at least a few of the 5,833 babies (both boys and girls) given the name.
As it turns out, Wentz wasn’t the first person to think up the name “Marvel,” either. In 2017, 21 little ladies and 29 tiny gentleman were named Marvel, which is, well, marvelous.
Now for the more unique Marvel names.
There were 121 females and 7 males named Pepper in 2017, also known as Iron Man’s other half. And while still quite rare, there were 39 boys named Banner — which may be a tribute to Bruce Banner, the real name of the Incredible Hulk.
Ten quirky ladies were given the name Nebula, and six newborn boys were named Hawkeye in 2017. The name Drax, a member of the Infinity Watch in the Marvel universe, was given to 11 boys.
As much as we love him, we’re happy to say that the name Groot didn’t make an appearance on the 2017 list.
Marvel has influenced a lot of parents out there, and we’re definitely not mad about it.
