Marvel Fans Are Naming Newborns After WandaVision Characters
It's that time of year again when BabyCenter reveals which baby names were the most popular. In 2021, the name Sophia was finally usurped after 11 consecutive years as the most popular girls' name. That title now belongs to Olivia, which has a little something to do with the rising success of singer Olivia Rodrigo. For the third year in a row, Liam remains the most popular boys' name, but there were some other interesting shake-ups on the list. One change that is especially delightful is the rise in names from Marvel's Disney+ series, WandaVision.
According to the website (via Buzzfeed), the success of WandaVision had a big impact on baby names this year. Wanda was up by 54% year over year, Agatha was up 32%, and Darcy was up 11%. However, the real surprise is that the name Vision is featured on the girls' list, up 22%.
WandaVision is not the only series that has changed the game for baby names this year. Thanks to the beloved sitcom, Ted Lasso, the name Roy is up 9%, Keeley is up 15%, and Jamie is up 10%. Interestingly, the name Rupert saw a huge increase of 67%, but it's hard to believe that has anything to do with Anthony Stewart Head's hated character from the Apple TV+ show. However, the name Ted saw a decrease, which is surprising after the character dominated the Halloween season. Another series that seemed to have an effect on baby names in 2021 was Netlfix's Bridgerton. The name Daphne went up 13% and Eloise went up 15%.
As for WandaVision, the show recently received 23 total Emmy nominations, including Best Limited Series. Some of the cast was also nominated, including Elizabeth Olsen for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie," Paul Bettany for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie," and Kathryn Hahn for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie." The show ended up winning three Creative Arts Emmys for "Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Program (Half-Hour)," "Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes," and "Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics" for "Agatha All Along."
WandaVision is now streaming on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here. The rest of Marvel's 2021 line-up includes Eternals, which is now playing in theaters, Hawkeye premiering on DIsney+ on November 24th, and Spider-Man: No Way Home being released on December 17th.