A professional baby namer has cast her predictions on 2023's most popular names - and reckons "dark, moody, romantic" monikers will boom. Steph Coffield, 39, is a stay-at-home mum with a side hustle helping new parents to name their babies.
The mum-of-three "stumbled into the career" after posting a few TikToks on the subject - and now charges $50 for a list of name ideas based on the parent's specifications. Steph, from St Paul, Minnesota, US., has predicted "dark and moody" names - tagged to shows like Netflix's Wednesday - will be a hit in the new year.
She said: "I think romantic names like Argo, Draco, Knight, Raven and Zelda will be popular. Even Wednesday, like the show. Mystical names are doing well already."
She added that astonomy-based and celestial names such as Luna and Aurora will rise in popularity in the same way. Another likely naming trend in the new year will see shorter names and nicknames favoured over longer titles.
Steph thinks that names that are traditionally nicknames - such as Libbie, Jack and Chris, will become more popular than the full length versions.
She said: "It's a trend that's already happening. parents know they'll be calling their kid that name anyway, so they don't even bother with the full name."
Steph expects to see any longer names slide down the popularity scale - in favour of these shorter alternatives. She said: "Longer ones like Anastasia, Elizabeth and Nicholas will be less popular in general.
"I'm always being told by clients that they don't want anything too long. But some will always be popular no matter what, like Benjamin, for example."
As for letters, E and L will be popular starting letters for names in 2023 based on current trends as these are "always popular". But Steph predicts more unusual starting letters such as U, V and Y may start to emerge as parents look to shift from the 'norm'.
Steph encourages people to push the boat out with naming - because "why would you want something that's already everywhere?" Steph's recently-published book, 'Names Don't Have a Gender', is available on Amazon:.
