Baby names inspired by the popular HBO series Game of Thrones have begun trending nationwide, and a little bit of Westeros has even made its way to Delaware.
The series, based on novels written by George R. R. Martin, was an immediate success when it premiered in 2011.
Its loyal following has gone a step further to pledge their devotion to the show by adopting some popular character names for their own children, with over 20,000 babies named in honor of Westeros‘ own since the show’s debut 11 years ago. https://crossword-solver.io/name-of-thrones
Delaware’s top baby names:The most popular baby names in Delaware are here. Is your name on the list?
As the world of Westeros draws viewers in for a new round of drama with the Aug. 21 premiere of the Game of Thrones spinoff show, House of the Dragon, those numbers might be bound to increase in the coming years.
Arya and Daenerys/Khaleesi account for 94.5% of all Game of Thrones-inspired baby names in the U.S., and Arya leads the pack with 18,179 appearances since 2011.
Arya, derived from a Sanskrit/Persian word meaning ‘honorable,’ is also the only name inspired by the series to pop up in Delaware, accounting for 40 baby Aryas.
Outside of the U.S., Arya is a popular name for girls in Cambodia and men in Iran and parts of Indonesia.
Even though Arya was a common name in the United States before Game of Thrones, the series helped push the popularity of the name from 942nd before the show’s first episode aired to peaking at the 92nd most common name in 2019.
In Game of Thrones, Arya Stark is the third child of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Stark, and is portrayed by actress Maisie Williams.
Arya is known for rejecting the lady-like pursuits of her culture and is instead determined to forge her own destiny. Her headstrong has been known to get her into tense situations, but Arya has held her own and established herself as noble warrior.
Aside from Delaware, Arya is the top Westeros-inspired name in California, with 2,620 appearances, and Texas, with 1,666 appearances.
These states also lead the pack when it comes to the most total names inspired by the series. California’s GoT names stand at 3,719 appearances and Texas follows with 2,233.
Nationwide, Khaleesi follows the popularity of Arya with 3,245 appearances and is selected for its meaning of strength and resilience. Daenerys is the third most popular with 866 babies claiming the Dothraki title.
Names like Jon and Catelyn were excluded from the rankings due to their common usage before the show, but other names from the show, that are easily identified as having that Westeros flare, have been used in recent years.
With 464 appearances, Tyrion is the most popular male name. More franchise names that have found their way into the public sphere include Brienne (243), Sansa (170), Jorah (161), Bran (88), Nymeria (81), Bronn (40), Tywin (25), Cersei (17) and Khal (14).