Sorry Theon, Arya is the most popular 'Game of Thrones' baby name

Tanya Edwards
Arya Stark (Photo courtesy HBO)
Arya Stark (Photo courtesy HBO)

Baby names seemingly inspired by HBO’s Game of Thrones are gaining in popularity according to new data from the Social Security Administration that was published Friday.

The data shows that thousands of babies born in 2018 were named after characters from the popular HBO show, CBS News reports.

The name Arya ranked 119th for girls names, making a pretty notable jump from 2010, the year the show debuted, when the name ranked a lowly 942nd. An alternative spelling of the name, Aria, also shot up in popularity, ranking 19th. And Khaleesi, the title given the the wives of Dothraki warlords, and popularized by the character Danenerys Targaryen (né Stormborn), jumped 100 spots in 2017, ranking 549th.

A breakdown of babies born in 2018 with the most (and least) popular Game of Thrones inspired names shows that the name Theon doesn’t appear to be climbing the ranks anytime soon, however Yara made one of the largest increases last year, jumping a few hundred spots to 672nd.

  • Arya: 2,545

  • Khaleesi: 560

  • Jaime (male): 547

  • Yara: 434

  • Lyanna: 319

  • Jon: 311

  • Meera: 191

  • Daenerys: 163

  • Shae (female): 108

  • Jaime (female): 73

  • Renly (male): 59

  • Tyrion: 58

  • Lady: 45

  • Renly (female): 43

  • Brienne: 33

  • Jorah: 30

  • Sansa: 29

  • Catelyn: 21

  • Shae (male): 17

  • Ellaria: 17

  • Oberyn: 15

  • Nymeria: 15

  • Theon (male): 14

  • Gregor: 11

  • Shireen: 11

  • Ramsay (male): 10

  • Sandor: 10

  • Khal: 9

  • Summer: 9

  • Bran: 8

  • Beric: 8

  • Theon (female): 7

  • Bronn: 7

  • Samwell: 7

  • Myrcella: 6

  • Aegon: 6

  • Benjen: 6

  • Ramsay (female): 5