Most unusual names of 2013

Melanie Mahoney

It’s the end of another year, and with that comes a variety of lists of baby names. Which were the most popular names of the past 12 months? The fastest rising, and the names falling from favour the quickest? What are the latest trends?

While we wait for the Australian states and territories to release their lists of the most popular names of 2013, we can turn to the US, where baby name sites have been compiling lists of their own.

The following are names taken from bounty.com’s list of ‘most extraordinary baby names', and babycenter.com’s ‘unusual baby names of 2013’. The latter gets its data from parents who register their baby’s name with the site, and the site explains that each name was given to at least three children.

This year brand names were popular with some parents, with girls named Chevy, Pepsi and Wrigley, and several boys named Dior.

The general population also reflected the celebrity trend of naming children after places, with London, Egypt and Dallas for boys, and Phoenix and Olympia for girls.

Parents also have high hopes for their offspring, choosing Luck, Prosper, Bright and Victory for males, and Nirvana and Paradise for girls - much like some of the most unusual names for 2012.

Some girls were given feminine, flowery names, such as Orchid, Tulip and Fairy ... and the much more literal Flower.

Animals were a hit: boys were named Cub, Finch, Tiger, Kodiak and Panda, while the girls included Feline and Puppy.

And lastly, in the too-hard-to-categorise group, comes Cheese, Chow and Thirdy for males, and Duda, Blip and Kiwi for females.

50 most unusual names for boys in 2013