Parents are naming their babies after Pokémon Go characters

[Shawn Knight]

As Pokémon Go continues its global ambush on productivity, many are questioning the game’s staying power. Are we in the midst of a fad that’ll soon die down as quickly as it arrived or will the game stick around for the long haul?

While the answer isn’t immediately obvious, we do know that for some parents, the game’s influence will linger for many years to come. That’s because some people are borrowing from the Pokémon Go character set to name their newborns (yeah, you can’t make this stuff up).

According to BabyCenter, the names of some Pokémon Go characters have recently spiked in popularity. Fortunately, it isn’t quite as bad as it could be as parents are going with more subtle names like Evee, Onyx and Roselia, which have jumped 1,394 spots, 2,191 spots and 5,896 spots compared to a year ago, respectively.

That not a sheer coincidence, either. BabyCenter reports that in a recent survey, nearly 50 percent of the moms in its community said they are actively playing Pokémon Go.

Then again, one shouldn’t really be all that surprised as pop culture-inspired baby names are a regular occurrence. Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Frozen and House of Cards, the site says, have all served as inspirations for baby names in recent memory.

BabyCenter’s editor in chief said parents are always looking to pop culture for baby name inspiration and, right now, it doesn’t get hotter than Pokémon Go.

Image courtesy Alexander Tihonov, Shutterstock. Second image courtesy samira_aileen03, Instagram

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https://www.techspot.com/news/65770-parents-naming-their-babies-after-pokmon-go-characters.html

 

[davislane1]

If you told me in 1999, when Pokemon was all the rage, that people would be using Poke themes to name their kids in 2016, I wouldn't have believed it. We may be approaching peak retard....but that's what everyone thought last year.

"OMG! Your baby is so cute! What's his name? "

"Zubat."

 

[sridoodla]

Eeve and Roselia aren't bad names. I'm skeptical of the others though.

 

[Zoner1501]

,(>w< )7 Wobbuffet!

 

[Uncle Al]

OMG ..... seriously? I thought we killed off all the dumb ones!

 

[Camikazi]

OMG ..... seriously? I thought we killed off all the dumb ones!

HAHAHAHAHA! Have you been sleeping for the last 40 years? The dumb ones are multiplying faster than the smart ones and have been for a bit now.

 

[cliffordcooley]

HAHAHAHAHA! Have you been sleeping for the last 40 years? The dumb ones are multiplying faster than the smart ones and have been for a bit now.

The dumb ones are getting teaching careers and spreading their stupidity.

 

[J spot]

It makes sense, in that I don't believe that these moms are hardcore Pokemon fans, or even care for the series. But rather that tens of thousands of pregnant women are coming across unique and original sounding names and a percentage of them probably think, "That's such a nice unique name that nobody else has, that I can name my baby."

 

[ET3D]

It makes sense, in that I don't believe that these moms are hardcore Pokemon fans, or even care for the series. But rather that tens of thousands of pregnant women are coming across unique and original sounding names and a percentage of them probably think, "That's such a nice unique name that nobody else has, that I can name my baby."

Yeah, it still better than those geek parents who name their kids after geek stuff. At least it doesn't come from a life long desire to name your kid Cloud or Geralt or Obiwan.

 

[Kibaruk]

You know what, those are subtle names, I thought there was going to be a Pidgeoto or Pikachu or Bulbasaur, Evee and Roselie are almost normal names, Onyx though? Mmm... are those stats from a specific country or world based?

 

[Adhmuz]

I think Idiocracy was a little off by it's calculation that 500 years in the future as of 2006 the world would be run by the Dumbasses of society, it turns out this will happen a lot sooner than they ever imagined. This is the problem with bringing back a game from the 90s that all the kids played, myself included, those kids have grown up and can have kids of their own, but the game they played is new again and still has the same appeal it had to them 15 years ago, myself excluded, resulting in a cultural phenomena of pure stupidity. People playing while driving, trespassing, walking into things, getting run over by traffic, ect...

That said I'm going to watch Idiocracy tonight and try to spot the similarities to modern society, I'm actually worried with how close their prediction has come true...

 

[Rippleman]

I don't understand what is wrong with the names mentioned. I am too old to worry? too young to worry? Or could it just not matter to my life? meh.

 

[wiyosaya]

In future news: Parents leave infant at home alone for several days while playing Pokemon Go. In an ironic twist of fate, the parents mistook the Pokemon character they were chasing for their own infant.

 

[Chrits55]

Most of that is just user error : and what's this Idiocracy business ??? although I don't see how bringing back a game from the 90's with the universal player appeal thingy is a problem ???? or is it me : and yes I played the games too ... the only one I haven't played yet is Pokemon Go .. at some point I had most of them .. even the ones for Gameboy Advance .. as far I know .. I have all the ones that are out for the Nintendo 3DS .. and I want to get the new set Sun and Moon .. if they're out yet.. I can check Gamestop or the Entertainment Exchange store up at the mall... .. anyway .. what else is going on out here .. other than people making a big deal out of user error?? about the parents .. so what??? not a huge deal like.. everyone else on here is saying : .. but yes maybe it's just me saying that ...

I think Idiocracy was a little off by it's calculation that 500 years in the future as of 2006 the world would be run by the Dumbasses of society, it turns out this will happen a lot sooner than they ever imagined. This is the problem with bringing back a game from the 90s that all the kids played, myself included, those kids have grown up and can have kids of their own, but the game they played is new again and still has the same appeal it had to them 15 years ago, myself excluded, resulting in a cultural phenomena of pure stupidity. People playing while driving, trespassing, walking into things, getting run over by traffic, ect...

That said I'm going to watch Idiocracy tonight and try to spot the similarities to modern society, I'm actually worried with how close their prediction has come true...

 

[Adhmuz]

what's this Idiocracy business ???

Short answer: Google it...
It's movie made 10 years ago with Luke Wilson... I even mention I was going to watch it, but I guess you didn't read that far. You'd have to see it to understand the reference.

 

[DelJo63]

It's nothing new - - in the '60s, the flower children started this stuff with names like Flower & Sunshine. Cher named her daughter Chastity