Luna revealed as the most popular baby name related to planets and space

Wicked Uncle has researched the most popular baby names related to science between the years 1996-2020. They looked into several categories, including planets/space, geology, and chemistry - the results will surprise you!

They also examined the most popular baby names related to iconic female figures in the science industry including Rosalind Franklin and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. 

First, let’s take a look at the top five most popular baby names in relation to planets and space.

1. Luna - 7,137
2. Aurora - 5,186
3. Nova - 1,486
4. Star - 832
5. Artemis - 383

Interestingly, almost all of the names in this ranking were female. Luna was by far the most popular, this girl's name was given to 1216 girls in 2020 alone. Nova was the only unisex name to make the top five, in total there were 352 females and 16 males with this name. 

Next, they analysed the most popular baby names related to geology, girls names are particularly popular here, making up four of the top five. With so many names here still being used today, the geology names have produced a few gems!

The top five most popular baby names relating to geology were:

1. Ruby - 55,871
2. Jade - 19,413
3. Jasper - 8,892
4. Pearl - 2,712
5. Agatha - 881

Popular girls names Ruby and Jade made up the top two. Jade has dropped in popularity over recent years but was used to name over two thousand babies a year between 1996-2001.

However, some credit must be awarded to outside factors such as birthstones. Ruby could also be attributed to that very famous Kaiser Chiefs song!

It was interesting to see that almost all of these names were girls' names, with Jasper being the only male name in the top 5.

When researching the names related to chemistry, only four names were found highlighting the lack of chemistry names being favoured. Names such as Newton are perhaps too archaic with only 81 babies given this name between 1996-2020.

 The most popular baby names related to chemistry were:

1. Calvin - 2,438
2. Magnus - 1,300
3. Newton - 81
4. Neon - 13

The four names found were all used for baby boys, Magnus placed second but is growing in popularity. In 2020, more baby boys were named Magnus than Calvin (108 compared to 78).

Lastly, Wicked Uncle looked into the names relating to iconic female figures in the science industry. However, these names tend to be more general, there could be several reasons behind these names such as relatives or other outside influences.

The top five most popular names were:

1. Elizabeth - 36,196
2. Katherine - 11,035
3. Beatrice - 9,473
4. Mary - 6,652
5. Helen - 3,201

All of the names in the top 5 were girls' names. The research found that these influential women’s first names were used as girl names as expected, whilst their surnames were given to baby boys as their first names. 11,035 girls were named Katherine, a potential relation to Katherine Johnson, the first black woman to work at NASA, whilst 172 boys were given the name Johnson throughout the same period.

The most popular name was Elizabeth, relating to the iconic Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and, of course, the late Queen Elizabeth II for outside influence. Elsewhere, Katherine ranked second, relating to Katherine Johnson, the first African-American woman to work for NASA.

These names have dropped in popularity over recent years, highlighting the rise in more unconventional names as parents strive to make their babies stand out from the crowd.

Overall, the research into popular baby names and their relation to science was an interesting study. In particular, some parents may be unaware of the connection names like Ruby and Jade have to the scientific practice of geology.