Baby name trends set to take over the UK and US in 2024

Choosing a name for your baby is a big deal, but you can always rely on professional baby namers to keep on top of the latest trends and best monikers.

Whether you have your heart set on a classic name, or you're keen on something more unique, mothers-to-be often look towards baby name trends for inspiration.

Between the UK and the US, these trends can be quite different, depending on cultural preferences and events that have taken place over the past year.

We turned to baby name consultants, in both the US and the UK, to compare the biggest baby naming trends of the upcoming year - and the results might surprise you.

U.S. parents will use surnames to name their babies in 2024

Steph Coffield, a Minnesota-based consultant for excited parents-to-be, predicted the most popular names that she believes will dominate birth announcements in the US in 2024.

Coffield, 40, thinks that using “surnames as first names” will be a big 2024 trend, and that gender-neutral names will continue to rise in popularity as more people choose one name pre-birth that works for any gender.

The names Cameron and Carter for boys and Maddison and Spencer for girls will continue to stay in demand, she added.

However, she predicts parents will be “more adventurous” with their choices in the coming months, with names like Fisher, Huxley and Ridley becoming more common on the playground.

She said: “I’m seeing a lot of whimsical, gender neutral surnames being given as first names. We’re seeing girls’ names becoming more masculine and boys’ names becoming softer too.

"Some parents will come to me asking for one that works for a boy and a girl ahead of time, then they can stick with it, whatever the gender."

As society continues to embrace gender fluidity, Coffield said names that fall into this category will gain in popularity.

She said: “The way things are going, with more acceptance of non-binary people, parents aren't afraid to give boys softer more feminine names. We're already there with girls being more masculine and that will continue."

Another trend that Coffield foresees in 2024 is the return of “classic” names that everyone knows, but have fallen out of circulation. These include Harrison, Nathaniel and Vincent for boys, and Annie, Cecelia and Margaret for girls.

She added: “I'm seeing this more and more - parents want a classic name, but one that's out of the top 100. They want a name that feels familiar and that everyone has heard, but they don't want their child to have five other kids in their class with the same name.”

2024 US predictions: Girls’ names

• Collins

• Juniper

• Sloane

• Maddison

• Spencer

• Annie

• Cecelila

• Margaret

2024 US predictions: Boys’ names

• Cameron

• Carter

• Colter

• Waylon

• Campbell

• Harrison

• Nathaniel

• Vincent

UK parents will move towards gender-neutral or 'quiet luxury' names in 2024

While Coffield's expertise covers the US, there are some similarities between baby name trends across the Atlantic and at home in the UK, according to baby name consultant and YouTuber SJ Strum.

Strum tells Yahoo UK that gender-neutral names are also a huge trend in the UK "as we move to raising our children as individuals". "River is rising for both boys and girls, Noa is trending for girls and Noah is our number one boy name, Wren and Indie remain popular too," she adds.

There are other names in common between US and UK trends include: Annie, Margaret and Juniper for girls.

Strum also predicts a royal trend in baby names for next year. "I predict Elizabeth and its diminutives like Eliza, Elspeth and Betty will also see a spike after the death of [Queen Elizabeth II]."

However, a different trend coming up in the UK is the "quiet luxury" trend, Strum says. "We love a timeless, traditional name in the UK but modern parents want to move on to rarer choices as unique names still dominate what we're after and why there's such a boom in using a baby name consultant."

2024 UK predictions: Girls' names

• Delilah

• Margot

• Maeve

• Nellie

• Indie

• Ophelia

• Nora

• Anastasia

• Cleo

• Harlow

2024 UK predictions: Boys' names

• Otto

• Kit

• Enzo

• Beau

• Reuben

• Rupert

• Otis

• Ronnie

• Jude

• Lucas

Additional reporting by SWNS.

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