While you may think that unique baby names are due to globalization and the influence of pop culture (such as TV shows), a new study suggests that in fact this may be related to something much less exciting: the economy .
Psychologists recently studied the reasons why parents chose some baby names and found that the desire to stand out increases in difficult times. This is consistent with the economy - unusual baby names grew during periods of financial crisis.
In a U.S. study, between 2004 and 2006, 66% of boys and 76% of girls had a name that was not one of the 50 most common names of that period. But these figures increased in 2011-2015, where 72% of boys and 79% of girls had names that were not in the top 50 best known.
The study authors, published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, found that parental motives varied depending on the economic climate. Parents were "less likely to give their children common names during the years of the Great Recession compared to the years immediately preceding it," they wrote.
The idea behind this is that a unique name can help the child stand out in a competitive environment.
Interestingly, researcher Jean Twenge told TIME that there was once a 'gender gap' in baby names when it came to this trend. But things are changing.
"Boys are even more likely to have a common name than girls," says Twenge. "But parents are now more willing to give boys unique names as well."
Looking at what is happening these days, it looks like we will continue to see unique new names in the future!
Source: Marie Claire
