These baby names will be trendy by 2025, an expert predicts

Just like fashion, baby naming trends are constantly evolving.

According to baby name expert Laura Wattenberg, old-fashioned nicknames will be popular among girls by 2025.

“Think Goldie, Birdie, Elsie and Nelly,” Wattenberg, creator of Namerology, tells TODAY.com. “It’s that throwback sound, but in a kind of diminutive style.”

Wattenberg says Maple and Poppy are also gaining popularity. In a similar vein, “boyish” nicknames, including Stevie and Scottie, are finding favor with girls.

Hawaiian-sounding names will also be big in the new year, she says.

“It doesn’t necessarily have any reference to Hawaii, there’s just something about that sound that people love,” Wittenberg explains. She mentions Leilani, Kehlani, Milani and Aylani as examples.

Wattenberg compares names ending in “Lani” to names ending in “Lynn” or “Leigh.”

“Lani, like Leigh or Lynn, can be attached to just about anything,” says Wattenberg.

The Hawaiian trend also applies to boys’ names, says Wattenberg.

“Parents also spell names in such a way that they end in kai-, such as Malakai,” says Wattenberg. “People love that smooth, vowel-heavy sound and the fact that it sounds so different from traditional English naming. The rhythm is fresh.”

There are also a number of emerging names following in Milo’s wake, such as Otto and Cosmo.

“Ten or twenty years ago, Otto and Cosmo sounded nice, but a bit too much, but now that there are so many Leos and Milos, they feel more realistic,” says Wittenberg.

Wattenberg warns that Cosmo is a “personality multiplier name,” meaning, “if it suits you, it makes you so much stronger, but if it doesn’t suit you, it’s hard to bear.”

Surnames ending in an “S,” including Banks and Wells, are catching on, Wattenberg says. And there has been an explosion of Biblical names starting with Az.

“Names like Azarja and Azraël are on the rise,” says Wittenberg. “Individually neither of them will be a big hit, but together they will release a number of songs.”

Names that are trending for girls in 2025

1. Birdie

2. Elsie

3. Nelly

4. Stevie

5. Scottie

6. Leilani

7. Kehlani

8. Milan

9. Aylani

10. Maple

11. Poppy

12. Murphy

13. Ripley

Names that are trending for boys in 2025

1. Malakai

2. Koa

3. Otto

4. Cosmos

5. Azrael

6. Azaria

7. Azael

This article was originally published on TODAY.com