"Certain names simply never seem to go out of style. Elizabeth and James, for example, are pretty much mainstays throughout modern history. Maybe it’s the origins they hold, or the fact that parents likely have a relative with the name. Either way, they’ve made a name for themselves and likely won’t be going anywhere soon. On the other hand, one mom made a genius discovery in the topic of baby naming trends by comparing top baby names today to popular millennial baby names.
Carly of @mamadottiemarie on TikTok posted a viral video that explains something we all know to be true but may have never put into words: some modern names have the same vibe as popular millennial names. Taking the top baby girl names from her birth year of 1991, she paired each with a modern equivalent, and the results are pretty great. Below, I’m breaking down her fun and insightful video as well as sharing what others had to say.
Millennial Baby Names Versus Today
To explain the phenomenon, Carly starts out by saying, “This is what my ’90s baby, millennial mom brain thinks of when I hear these top baby girl names. These are the same vibes to me.” From there, she goes into sharing several popular baby names for girls of today. For each, she gives a popular baby name from the ’90s that she dubs “have the same vibe.” Sounds close enough to an exact science to me!
Here’s what it boiled down to:
- Mia = Amy
- Amelia = Amanda
- Evelyn = Elizabeth
- Penelope = Samantha
- Addie = Maddie/Maggie
- Nora = Nicole
- Harper = Lauren
- Mila = Megan
- Scarlett = Jessica
- Ava = Ashley
- & more!
Carly shares in a follow-up video that she did compare data from her birth year, 1991, with data from today. However, what’s more captivating is that her video on popular millennial name equivalents emphasizes the feelings, associations, and personalities of the names as opposed to where exactly they ranked in popularity. The best part is that her associations and the delivery of what she’s sharing often make you stop and think, “She’s totally right!” Let’s dive into what others had to say.
What Do You Think?
Carly ended her video by asking the audience, “What do you think?” about her takes. As always, people had plenty of thoughts. For many, they were in full agreement. “Why does Harper being Lauren make so much sense 🤣,” commenter @Lala4132 said. @ayyturra added, “Ava = Ashley is SO accurate. I knew a million Ashleys growing up and now I teach a million Avas.”
Some commenters even hilariously corroborated her takes perfectly. For example, @miaoneilll commented, “Checks out, I’m Mia and my mom is Amy 😂.” And @blynnmo shared, “Here’s me, a Brittany, with a daughter named Sutton 🫣.”
Fellow millennials all but thanked Carly for her service of bringing this millennial baby names concept to light. Turns out, this is something that makes sense to many, even if we never realized the connection. @kristinajrankin commented, “OK, this scratched an itch in my brain that I didn’t know I had.” Other commenters added their own associations as well, which were just as genius. Here are some notable additions to the popular millennial names list:
- @mel_weave added, Chloe = Katie
- @stacihaney added, Luna = Crystal
- @cecepaigex added, Riley = Taylor
- @ivyyy151 added, Aurora = Alyssa
The Follow-Ups
Part 2 of Millennial Baby Names
One other thing was very clear by the comment section of Carly’s post—some millennial baby names were left out. Several commenters asked for a follow-up that included names like Caitlyn, Katie, Hannah, and Chelsea, while a handful asked for a version to be done addressing boys’ names.
Thankfully, Carly delivered in her first follow-up video.
In Part 2 of this highly anticipated installation, Carly addresses the baby name data more. She begins with what she dubs, “the elephant in the room”—Jennifer, as she didn’t address this highly-popular name in her first video. Carly stated, “I thought long and hard about who Jennifer is today. After much consideration and looking over the data—I looked at names from 1981 all the way to 1991—Jennifer is today’s Olivia.”
Staying true to form, however, Carly explained that though the data may say one thing—i.e. two names may have been in the same spot on the charts—the type of personality vibes they give off may be totally different. With this in mind, she said that Jennifer, in her mind, is the Avery of today. As she goes on, she shares both what the data says and what her opinions are. Here’s what we get:
- Kayla = Sofia based on data, but Layla or Luna based on vibes
- Rachel = Eleanor based on data, but Abigail based on vibes
- Amber = Violet based on data, but Maya based on vibes
- & more!
Part 3 of Millennial Baby Names
For Part 3, Carly provides significantly more names. This time, she focuses on the data between decades for some, but also leans heavily into her opinions on what the names feel like.
Here are some notables:
- Kelsey = Chloe based on data, but Peyton based on vibes
- Hannah = Savannah or Delilah
- Shelby = Zoey
- Jordan = Emery / Parker
- & many more!
I can’t help but think that Carly was spot on with most of her picks. On top of that, she made a few inclinations to her future baby name trend predictions—like an increase in popularity of the name Sutton. I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly looking forward to more videos in this series and more predictions for what’s to come in the baby name realm. Perhaps Part 4 will bring us a baby boy names segment? Let’s hope!
Brett Nicole Hayden, Assistant Editor
As the Assistant Editor, Brett works with the editors of The Everymom on the content creation process by updating stories, sourcing images and graphics, and pitching and contributing her own articles. Her favorite topics to write about are culture, relationships, and living. She’s also The Everymom’s resident baby names and family movies expert!