There is no longer a boundary when it comes to baby names. This has been confirmed by the many questionable choices from those in the spotlight. Let’s take as an example, Elon Musk’s little one, who has been christened an array of numbers, letters, punctuation marks, and some sort of figure I can’t find on the keyboard. Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran has decided to challenge his daughter by plonking ‘Antarctica’ into the middle of the name she must carry for the rest of her life. Needless to say, these children will have a difficult time in Starbucks. However, traditional names are now a thing of the past, and it seems that along with the desire for your offspring to be one of a kind, luck is also an influential factor in picking a name.
According to a study carried out by Compare.bet, names that represent good fortune are growing in popularity and 94% of the parents who would consider choosing a ‘lucky’ baby name think that it will help their child later on in life. Presumably, every parent wants the best for their children, so it’s no surprise that many go that extra mile to decode the meanings behind potential names. A tradition once existed in Maharashtra, India where newborns were tossed off the side of a shrine into a stretched bedsheet about 30ft below to bring good fortune to the infant. Thankfully, this tradition is now illegal, so you can simply pick from a list of alternative names instead.
Compare.bet did some research into the favourites, and found that the most popular lucky girl’s name is Iris. Iris is the ancient symbol of power, the goddess of the rainbow in Greek Mythology, and is certainly a lot more compelling than Susan. The name is directly derived from the Greek word, meaning “rainbow” which symbolises good luck. Overall, it is the 20th most desirable girls name of 2020. The second in line on the lucky girl’s name list also comes from Greek origin. Evangeline, meaning “the bearer of good news” is the 43rd most popular girl’s name overall and oozes class. Let’s just say that you can be guaranteed Evangeline won’t be found making dance moves on TikTok. Beatrice is the third most popular lucky girl’s name, meaning “she who brings happiness”, and “blessed” in Latin. It is 78th most popular among parents this year, despite the undeniable possibility of it being shortened to Trix.
Onto the males, the study showed that the trendiest lucky baby boy’s name of 2020 is Asher. It stems from Hebrew and means “happiness”- adorable. Interestingly, Asher is the second most popular baby boy’s name overall this year. In fact, there are a massive 2,290 monthly Google searches from intrigued parents looking into this name to bring luck upon their child. In second place on the lucky names list is Felix. Similar to Asher, it derives from Latin and simply means “happy” or “lucky”. A name that has come leaps and bounds since being associated with cat food, Felix now holds the spot at the 18th place on the list of the most popular boys’ names. In third place is Quinn, which is said to come from the Irish-Gaelic word “ceann”. Many Irish-speakers will look at this with furrowed brows, knowing that “ceann” directly translates to a “head”. However, “ceann” was also used to denote a person of high intelligence, so we’ll go with this translation as the meaning behind the name, rather than a skull.
So should you be expecting an addition to the family sometime soon, why not branch away from the old reliables? There’s certainly no evidential proof that a name representing luck will be of any benefit to your child’s fortune, but at least they sound impressive! If none of the mentioned names tickle your fancy, fear not. Compare.bet have compiled a list of the top 20 male and female names along with their meanings to help. Happy name-picking!
