Babies Are Being Named After 'Game of Thrones' Characters

Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011. It is now in its eighth season, which premiered on April 14, 2019.

Millions of people are watching the series. It is very interesting that most series show a decrease in readers after each season, but the readers have increased after every season of this popular fantasy drama. According to the audience measurement performed by Nielsen Media Research, so far the eighth season has 12.48 million watching. Season one had only 2.22 million watching. Over the years, the series has received numerous awards because of its popularity.

Some parents want to have a constant reminder of the series when it goes off the air. Therefore, they are naming their babies and their pets after their favorite Game of Thrones characters, according to data from the Social Security Administration. While some of the names are easy to spell and are spelled exactly as they are on the series, some parents are deliberately spelling their children's names with variations.

The Social Security Administration data was published on Friday, May 10, 2019. Out of 3.8 million babies born in 2018, more than 4,500 of them were named after characters in Game of Thrones. That was up from more than 3,800 in 2017 and more than 3,200 in 2016.

Some names for both boys and girls are more popular than others. For instance, 2,545 babies were given the name Arya last year. That name of the series' heroine became the most popular name for girls in the United States. The name went up from number 942 in 2010 to 119 in 2018. The more traditional spelling of the name of the trained assassin is Aria, but the pronunciation is the same as Arya.

Last year, 560 female babies were named Khaleesi in the United States. It became the 549th most popular name for girls in the United States. More than 3,500 children have been named after her since the series began in 2011. There were some variations of the name. For example, 20 baby girls have been named Khalessi, 15 are named Khaleesia, 10 girls are named Khalesi, five females are named Khaleesie, and five girls are named Khalessy.

Another example of variation is that 163 female babies are named Daenerys. Eight names are spelled Daenarys and seven girl names are spelled Danerys.

The Social Security Administration only publishes data on all names given to five or more babies in a year. Therefore, it is hard to say if there are up to fewer than five children in the United States with names from the popular series that are not included on the list.

The chart below shows the number of children born in 2018 who have Game of Thrones character names.

According to CNN and the above chart, there were 2,594 children who were named Ayra in 2019. There is a big gap between the top name and the next name Khalessi that belongs to 560 girls. Khaleesi, the name of the queen in the fictional Dothraki language. The character's actual name is Daenerys that was given to 163 baby girls in 2018.

The name Yara was given to 434 baby girls last year. It went from the 986th place in 2017 to the 672nd place in 2018.

Some of the names of many key figures haven't become as popular as some of the others. For example, just 58 baby boys were named Tyrion, 30 boys named Jorah, 29 girls were named Sansa and 14 boys were named Theon.

BuzzFeed News asked some of the parents why they named their daughters Khaleesi after the character's murderous rampage. Many of the mothers said they were not bothered by the character's bad behavior.

One mother said she chose the name because it means "queen." Another mother said the name is unique and strong and that's the way she wants her daughter to be.