Celebrities influence choice of baby names

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Jacob, Ethan and Michael were the top boy names in 2010, while Isabella, Sophia and Emma were favorites for girls but celebrities are exerting a big influence of what parents chose to name their newborns.

An analysis of 23 million page views of individual baby name pages on a baby names website shows that celebrities have a big impact on name selections.

"Five years ago, I might have said that the biggest overarching factor was personal meaning, now the biggest factor is celebrities," said Pam Satran, the developer of the nameberry.com website.

She added that the number of searches for a particular baby name is a good indicator of how people will behave when the time comes to actually name their child, as opposed to data from the U.S. Social Security Administration, which tracks the numbers of babies with a particular name.

The name Pippa, she explained, came to sudden prominence after Pippa Middleton caught the world's attention when she was the maid of honor at the wedding of her sister Kate to Britain's Prince William in April.

"She seems to have the power of celebrity propelling her name and style," Satran added.

Other unusual names also seem to have a celebrity link.

Elula, the name of the daughter of actress Isla Fisher and British actor-comedian Sasha Baron Cohen, was not in the database in 2010 but is the 38th most searched for name in 2011 so far, largely because the celebrity couple chose to not publicize the name until well after the child's birth, according to Satran.

"There is a culture of the celebrity baby," she said. "The whole world goes on name watch. By not telling the name, it becomes a big news event."

Other celebrity-inspired names this year include Hadley, from the bestselling book "The Paris Wife", and Mila, which Satran attributes to the success of actress Mila Kunis over the last year.

Another popular baby name is Flynn, which was chosen by actor Orlando Bloom and his Australian model wife Miranda Kerr for their son.