With 29,910 names bestowed upon babies born in the United States last year, there was clearly a lot of creativity among American parents. But perhaps most remarkable of all? A full 1,100—or 3% of the names written on birth certificates last year—had never before been documented.


At the top of a list of compiled by Quartz is the wholly original name “Camreigh,” which was given to 91 babies born in 2017. Combined with the variation “Kamreigh,” which went to 18 babies, that’s more than 100 girls (and maybe a few boys) who have the distinction of being in the very first class of C/Kamreighs. (However, they may be confused with Camrys, who have been appearing on SSA records since the 1990s.)

Although the mind-meld that was going on among those parents is harder to explain, a few names making the list for the first time have clear origins. Mohana, for example, was given to 13 babies last year and is most likely a take on Disney’s Moana.

Other trends accounting for the new names include combining shorter monikers (Lunarose and Novahlee were both given to 11 girls), swapping “Ks” for other initials, such as in Kassian (22 babies) and Kior (20 babies), and adopting names from other languages or cultures for the first time.

Then there are the names that weren’t exactly invented last year, but met the threshold of “five or more uses” required to register with the Social Security Administration. Those include Asahd, a new spelling on a traditional Arabic name that was popularized by DJ Khalid when he gave it to his son in 2016, as well as the name Taishmara, which was likely inspired by Instagram celebrity, Taishmara Rivera.

Of final note: Last year was the first time Cersei appeared on the list, thanks to 11 babies of parents who must have never actually watched Game of Thrones before issuing that namesake. (It is a pretty name.)

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