Unexpected trend found in 2025’s top 100 baby names
A surprising new trend is quietly creeping into baby names – but parents may not even realise it.
The most popular baby names are influenced by a whole host of things: popular culture, celebrities, historical events, and traditions.
And since true crime is more popular than ever, with podcasts, docuseries, and feature films about crime and murder seemingly everywhere, the genre might be influencing more than just the streaming charts.
It appears to have inspired many names in BabyCentre UK’s top 100 baby names of 2025 list — and parents might not even know it.
“Baby names often serve as a time capsule of the world babies are born into, so it’s fascinating to watch how these trends unfold each year, and even more so when unexpected influences, like true crime, begin to make an impact,” Faye Mingo, chief marketing officer at BabyCentre, says.
Popular names that you might not realise are associated with true crime
Here are 12 of the most popular names of 2025 that might have unsavoury connotations.
- Anna – like Anna Delvey, who is a con artist who pretended to be a wealthy heiress. She was recently the subject of Netflix’s ‘Inventing Anna’ drama series
- Arthur – like Arthur Lee Allen, who was a Zodiac Killer suspect and a sex offender
- Bella – like Belle Gibson, an influencer and fraudster who claimed to have beaten multiple cancers using natural and alternative medicine. She has recently been the subject of ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’, a drama series on Netflix
- Erin – like Erin Patterson, who is currently undergoing trial as she is accused of allegedly murdering her in-laws by serving them poisonous mushrooms.
- Freddie and Rose – like Fred and Rose West, a couple who murdered at least 12 women and who are the subject of a recent Netflix docuseries
- Joseph – like ‘Joe Exotic’, a former zoo owner who was profiled in the Netflix show ‘Tiger King’ and who has been convicted for animal abuse and attempted murder for hire
- Luca – like Luka Magnotta, murderer and subject of the viral Netflix docuseries Don’t F**k with Cats
- Teddy – like serial killer Ted Bundy, who was played by Zac Efron in a recent drama film, ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’
- Ruby – like former family vlogger and convicted child abuser, Ruby Franke, who was the subject of a recent Disney+ documentary ‘Devil in the Family’
- Ronnie & Reggie – like the Kray twins, gangsters who were involved in murder, armed robbery, assault, and arson.
SJ Strum, BabyCentre UK’s Baby Naming Expert explains: “These names aren’t being chosen because of crime. More often, parents are unconsciously absorbing popular culture, and these names creep in to our minds via gripping TV, podcasts and viral content. It’s a fascinating lens on how culture shapes language, and by extension, baby names.”
There are other, less criminal trends, too
Parents are choosing celestial-themed names for their little girls, too. Some of these cosmic names include:
- Aurora – an electrical phenomenon where red or green light appears in the sky, like the Northern Lights
- Luna – meaning the moon
- Nova – a star that increases in brightness
There’s also a drift towards aristocratic names which could follow TikTok's Quiet Luxury or Old Money fashion trends, for example:
- Penelope
- Ada
- Sebastian
- Reuben
“We’ve also seen an uplift in names honouring the late Queen, like Eliza, Elsie, and Elizabeth. Royal-inspired names remain strong year-on-year: from Charlotte, Zara, and Mia, to George, Harry, William, Charlie, and Archie. Even Princess has seen a surprising comeback, as the nation rallied around Princess Kate during her recent cancer treatment,” SJ says.
Names featuring more unusual letters towards the end of the alphabet are rising in popularity, too, such as:
- Robyn
- Zoe
- Ezra
- Zion
- Yahya