Giving a child a pop culture name has become more common over the years, with many parents paying homage to their favorite TV show or movie characters. It’s no surprise that Disney-themed baby names are high on many parents’ lists. BeenVerified recently did a study on how Disney movie releases can actually affect name choices, with many names surging in popularity after a new film comes out. Not all of the names have stayed popular in the years since, but they certainly made a splash for a while.
To see the most popular Disney baby names ranked by growth percentage, keep reading.
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Tiana
When The Princess and the Frog came out in 2009, the baby girls’ name Tiana grew in popularity by 70%, according to the study. It’s fallen a bit in popularity since, but still lands on the Social Security Administration’s top 1,000 baby names list. In 2023, the name Tiana ranked 609th.
Esmeralda
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a classic ’90s Disney film, and the character Esmeralda captured the attention of parents naming their own little girls. In 1997, the name Esmeralda soared in popularity by 101%, BeenVerified reported. It’s also the name of one of Ryan Gosling’s daughters — even though she was born years later in 2014.
Violet
The Incredibles‘ release in 2004 seemingly spurred a 105% increase in popularity for the name Violet — after the invisible teen superhero in the film. But Violet has long been a popular name. In 2023, it was the 16th most-used baby name for girls, according to the Social Security Administration.
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Sebastian
There are actually two popular names on BeenVerified’s study that come from The Little Mermaid. We bet you can guess the more popular of the two, but first we’re here to talk about Sebastian. The boys’ name grew by 113% after The Little Mermaid animation came out in 1989.
Elsa
Frozen was such a sensation among both children and their parents that it’s unsurprising that it had a big impact on what people were naming their kids. A year after the movie came out in 2013, 1,140 babies were named Elsa — an increase of 126%, per BeenVerified.
Camilo
Although Encanto is a relatively new Disney film — having come out in 2021 — it still made a splash on the name charts. The name Camilo, which one of the Madrigal children has in the movie, soared in popularity by 142% the following year. Per BeenVerified’s data, 682 children were given the name.
Raya
Raya and the Last Dragon seemingly inspired parents to name their own kids after the warrior princess Raya. BeenVerified reported that the popularity of the name grew 161% in 2021, and it’s actually continued to grow ever since. A total of 862 children were named Raya in 2023, the study found.
Flynn
The name Flynn grew 166% in 2011 after the Rapunzel movie Tangled came out. In that film, Flynn Rider was the handsome hero who accompanied Rapunzel when she escaped her tower. Per the Social Security Administration data, in 2023, 322 boys were still given the name Flynn. So its popularity hasn’t really gone down since Tangled.
Ariel
Unsurprisingly, Ariel was a very popular baby name for little girls following the release of The Little Mermaid in 1989. The following year in 1990, 4,015 babies were named Ariel. It was an increase of 253% for the girls’ name, according to the BeenVerified study.
Mirabel
Another Encanto character that parents seem to have resonated with was Mirabel, the movie’s inspiring main character. After the movie’s release, the name Mirabel grew in popularity by 271% in 2022, per BeenVerified. It declined in popularity just a year later. But for those Mirabel babies, the brief Encanto moment will be forever.
Finnick
Finnick, one of the foxes in Zootopia, saw a name popularity surge of 408% in 2016 after Zootopia came out that year. But it probably helped the name’s popularity that The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 had come out in 2015 featuring a pretty important moment for the character Finnick Odair.
Moana
The name Moana surged by 488% after the Disney film debuted in 2016. It was the number one most popular Disney name in the state of Hawaii, per the BeenVerified study. That makes sense since the character Moana is from the islands of Polynesia which include Hawaii, Tonga, and Tahiti, per the Florida Times-Union.
Koda
After Brother Bear came out in 2003, the young and spunky bear cub Koda saw a surge in popularity in his name. Per BeenVerified, the name Koda grew a whopping 937% in 2004 following the movie’s release. The name was most popular in Montana, known for the nation’s largest remaining grizzly bear population next to Alaska, per Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.
Merida
The Disney name that saw the most improvement though was Merida after the Disney/Pixar film Brave came out in 2012. According to the study, the name grew by 1,150% the next year. In the decade since, the name’s popularity has tapered back off. It didn’t even make the top 1,000 names last year, per the Social Security Administration.
Will Lilo Be Next?
One of the next major Disney movies coming out is the live-action version of Lilo & Stitch. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is currently in post-production and stars young Maia Kealoha from Hawaii as Lilo. Perhaps, like with Moana, the state and even the nation will see a drastic increase in babies being named Lilo once the film debuts.
