Rather strangely, Damien, which is the name of the literal son of the devil in The Omen, saw a spike in popularity after the film’s 1976 release. Even more confusingly, in 2007 — a year after the remake of The Omen was released — the name had its most popular year, with 2,227 boys in the States being given it.

I know you’re thinking it, so I’ll say it — Katniss isn’t really a name. Well, I mean, technically it is, but before Suzanne Collins picked it out for her hero, it was used as an alternate name for the Sagittaria, which is a swamp potato. According to Time magazine, zero newborns were named Katniss in 2011, but in 2012 — the year The Hunger Games was released — 29 American girls were given the name.

Rue may not be as unique as a swamp potato-based name, but it makes sense that the most adorable character from The Hunger Games inspired parents. The name was most used at the end of the 19th century, but it fell out of popularity over the years; there were no baby Rues born in the USA after 1978, but Suzanne turned that around!

In 2010, not long after the first book was released, Rue made a comeback, but things really kicked off when the films came out. In 2012, the year we saw Rue on the big screen, usage went up by 246%, and it’s carried on rising since. We may also have Euphoria to thank for that. Since the show came out, the name has moved up 81 places in the UK name charts, which is pretty wild considering we don’t know what Rue might do in season three.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that most people who named their kids Lolita probably only saw the movie’s trailer, because WHAT?! If you’re not familiar with the eponymous story, Lolita is the nickname for Dolores, a 12-year-old girl who is preyed upon by a middle-aged man who becomes her step-dad — not the ideal association you’d want with your name, right?

A year after Kubrick’s adaptation of the novel hit the silver screens in 1962, the name peaked in popularity, making it the 467th most popular name at the time, but it has steadily dropped since.

We have another tortured soul that parents couldn’t resist making into a namesake here. Since the bad boy stepped out in 2015, the name has been on the up. In the UK, there were 67 baby Kylos in 2016, and it was the USA’s 901st most popular name the same year — which is quite big considering that it was pretty much unheard of before the new Star Wars movies.

If you met a Lando, you’d assume their parents were also Star Wars fans, right? Well, you probably wouldn’t be wrong! The year The Empire Strikes Back came out, 25 little American boys were named Lando. This may not sound huge, but in 1979 – the year before we met the wheeler-dealer — a grand total of zero babies were given the name, meaning its popularity rose by 460%!

It was then announced that he’d be returning in Solo: A Star Wars Story in 2016, and the name had a little renaissance, jumping more than 1,000 places in the name ranks. Landonis — which is what it’s short for — never really took off in the same way, so if you’re looking for a really ~unique~ Star Wars name, you’re welcome.

When the first Harry Potter book hit the shelves in 1997, Draco wasn’t the most coveted name — only four babies per million were given it. But in 2019, 50 babies per million were registered as Draco! The name is Latin and means dragon, but to many, it just denotes a bleach-blonde boy who over-enunciates the ‘P’ in Potter.

Now this makes sense — she’s smart, witty, and an all-around good egg! Prior to HP, the name was most famously used by Shakespeare in A Winter’s Tale, but it never really crossed over into the realm of an ‘everyday name’.

In the HP books, Hermione’s described as a huge nerd with big teeth and frizzy hair, and J.K. said she purposely chose an uncommon name to prevent kids with the same name from getting picked on because of it. That didn’t stop parents though! In the year 2000, it was only the 15,344th most popular name, but by 2003, it was the 2671st most popular name in America.

Marvel is one of the biggest movie franchises of the 21st Century, so it’s not surprising that it started a name trend or two. Lots of characters have names that were already quite popular, so it’s hard to tell if the little Wades and Parkers running around are the offspring of Marvel stans or not.

Valkyrie, on the other hand, is pretty niche. In 2017 — the year that Thor: Ragnorak was released — at least 63 baby girls were given the name. This might not sound like a huge amount, but before 2013, it didn’t even chart on baby names rankings.

Norse mythology fans will know that Loki was a god long before Marvel, but no one in America was bold enough to use it until the late ’90s. Despite being a bad guy, it seems Tom Hiddleston’s charm encouraged MCU fans to take the leap. After he was introduced in Thor in 2010, 55 boys were named Loki, and the rest is history. It’s now the 1347th most popular boy’s name in the States!

If you’ve made it this far you may have noticed a pattern — people don’t really seem that bothered about the associations that come with names. Thanos isn’t the most popular Marvel-inspired name, but naming your child after an eternal deviant warlord is something we should talk about. Since 2012, there have been at least 70 little ones registered as Thanos in the US, and there was actually a slight increase in popularity after the events of Infinity War. Wild.

Boys and girls have been registered with the name for centuries, but when The Little Mermaid was released in 1989, it took centre stage. The name was ranked 115th most popular girl’s name of the ’90s, with at least 28,139 American babies being named Ariel over the decade! For context, it was actually more popular than the names Lisa, Holly, and Jade.

Twilight had a HUGE impact on baby names. If you happen to come across 10-year-olds named Edward, Jacob, or Isabella, there’s a chance that their parents were somewhat inspired by the vampire tale. Although, they were pretty popular names already, so there’s an equal chance that it’s just a coincidence. With Cullen, it’s a different story. In 2009, Edward’s family name jumped 300 spots in the boy’s name charts — the biggest increase of any boy’s name — making it the 485th most popular name in the States.

We skirted the line of made-up names with Katniss, but this is where we cross it. Before Breaking Dawn was released in 2008, no one in the US was called Renesmee. This makes sense because it is, after all, a mash-up of Edward and Bella’s mums’ names, Renee and Esmé.

Since then, 1,325 American babies have been given the name, and there are a ton of alternative spellings — think Renesmae, Renezmee, etc, despite Stephanie Meyer saying she’d never use the name for a real kid.

The film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novella really put Coraline on the map, name-wise. He didn’t make it up per se, but the character came about when Gaiman mistyped Caroline, and the rest is history. In 2008, the US only had 11 baby Coralines, but in the five years after the movie’s release, more than 1,700 were registered. Not bad for a name that started as a typo.

The late ’90s was Dawson’s time to shine! Between Dawson’s Creek and Titanic’s Jack Dawson, people couldn’t get enough of the name! By 1999, the name jumped a ginormous 559 positions, making it the 136th most popular name of the year.

You might be surprised to learn that the year before Friends came out, Chandler was already the 348th most popular boys’ name in the States. You’d think Chandler’s awkwardness or Joey branding it a “stupid non-name” would make it less popular, but no! In 1995, usage went up more than 260%, and in 1999, it was the 151st most popular boy’s name in the US. The Bing association will never die though.