Meet our little Jigglypuff: Pokemon Go inspiring baby names
Parents who can't resist the Pokemon Go craze are naming their bundles of joy after Pokemon creatures, according to BabyCenter.
Wook at our wittle Pokemon!
We might just see play dates between Snorlax and Tentacruel in 2016. And yes, we're talking about humans.
With all the attention Pokemon Go has gotten lately, there's no way you haven't heard of, or played, the augmented-reality game that so far has been downloaded 75 million times. The craze has also reached parents, who are now naming their newborn babies after some of the most famous little creatures from the game, according to BabyCenter.
While names including Eevee, Roselia and Onyx are on the rise for girls compared with last year, the parenting site also notes a spike in names like Star, Ivy and Shay, which appear to relate to the Pokemon creatures Starmie, Ivysaur and Shaymin. The name of the Pokemon anime's main character, Ash, has been getting traction among little boys.
The site also reports that nearly 50 percent of BabyCenter moms are playing Pokemon Go, according to a poll.
"Parents are always looking to pop culture for baby name inspiration and, right now, it doesn't get hotter than Pokemon Go," Linda Murray, BabyCenter's global editor-in-chief, said in a statement. "It's possible that parents' enthusiasm for the game will reignite their love for the brand and spark a full-fledged naming trend."
Indeed, this isn't the first time parents have turned to cultural phenomena for baby names. In 2015, BabyCenter revealed that the name Hazel, after main character Hazel Grace Lancaster in "The Fault in Our Stars," climbed 52 percent on the girls' name list. On the geek side, more than 200 babies were named after Anakin Skywalker in 2014. Kids have even been named Mac and Siri.
Luckily, most parents seem to stick with names that do not sound too creature-like. No moms have reported to BabyCenter naming their kids Pikachu or Jigglypuff. But the list of top 100 most popular names of 2016 has yet to be released, and it could yield a few Pokesurprises.
