This week, People published the results of a HushHush.com survey of the most common billionaire baby names. Using the Sunday Times Rich List and other data, HushHush.com released a list of the top 10 male and female names that are “most likely to become billionaires when they grow up.” Name your child John, Charles, Ann, and Abigail, and that baby is destined for the big bucks!
We couldn’t let a claim that ridiculous go unchecked. So on with the deep dive. First, John, Charles, Ann, and Abigail (and the other names on the list) are disproportionately used for white, upper/middle class babies, the same group that is also most likely to have access to education, be listened to, be put in positions of power, and–of course–make more money. So it’s not that giving your child one of these names will guarantee wealth, but rather, that those who have these names are also those who are most “set up” for financial success.
The names on HushHush.com’s list are also on there because they are popular names. If there are proportionally more Johns being born than Apollos, there will be more John billionaires than Apollo billionaires. And then there’s the fact that the names on the list are not billionaire baby names. They are billionaire adult names. The adult billionaires named Ann were probably named Ann decades ago. Now, in 2019, Ann is so unpopular a name (barely in the top 1000), that the chances of naming a 2019 baby Ann in the hopes that she will become a billionaire at 30 is completely counterintuitive (unless, of course, baby Ann is named after billionaire mother Ann).
All of this is to say that while the names we give our babies do affect their lives, names are more reflections of status than creators of status. And in today’s “anything goes” baby name climate, the billionaires of tomorrow will be the Psalms and Stormies of today.
Moving on from wealth to fame… there’s been a ton of celebrity baby news lately, with recent baby births and new ones on their way!
Actress Keira Knightly and her husband, James Righton, welcomed their second child, a baby girl named Delilah (according to reports, though the couple have not yet released an official statement). Delilah joins big sister, Edie, and we’re loving this well-matched sibset and its vintage vibe.
Olympian and actual merman, Michael Phelps and his wife, Nicole, welcomed their third son, Maverick Nicholas on September 9.
Maverick joins brothers Boomer and Beckett. Maverick, incidentally, is one of the hottest names going right now.
Since returning to the SSA top 1000 in 1994 after its first (brief) appearance 1958, it now ranks at its all time high at #73. Maverick’s popularity in 1994 and 1958 can probably be attributed to the Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster film, Maverick that came out that same year, and to the TV Western about the same characters that premiered in 1957. Its surge in popularity now though, could be attributed to the legacy of the late Senator John McCain, whose nickname was “Maverick,” and to the American value of wanting to be an independent nonconformist, which is the very meaning of this name.
And pregnancy seems to be in the water these days, too. Actress Jenna Dewan and her boyfriend Steve Kazee, are expecting their first child together in a few months.
Jenna Dewan is already a mother to one—daughter Everley—whom she co-parents with ex Channing Tatum.
Today Show co-anchor, Carson Daly, and his wife Siri are also expecting another addition to their family of 5. Their new baby will be joining siblings Jackson, Etta, and London in spring 2020.
Their name choices so far nail all the trends, with “surname,” “vintage,” and “place name” all represented. Readers, what name do you want to see for baby #4?
Actor Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria are pregnant again. Their rainbow baby will be their fifth child together, joining siblings Romeo Alejandro, Leonardo Angel Charles, Rafael Thomas, and Carmen Gabriela.
Alec Baldwin has one other child, model Ireland Baldwin, with ex-wife Kim Basinger. They definitely have a style, so we’re betting on another multisyllabic Spanish beauty. Valentina, perhaps?
Happy Friday to you!