Browse our analysis articles on baby and pet names.
Seattle's 29-13 win in Super Bowl LX last night gave Kenneth Walker III the MVP trophy, with a 152-yard rushing performance. Kenneth has been declining for three decades. A non-QB Super Bowl MVP attached to a classic name is a rare cultural reset.
Last night's Olympic opening ceremony walked eighteen countries' naming conventions in front of American viewers. The Winter Games' naming influence is measurably weaker than the Summer Games', and the gap deserves a closer look.
Puppy Bowl XXII airs Super Bowl Sunday. Across 22 years, the show has put thousands of named puppies in front of millions of viewers, and AKC registration files have quietly absorbed those names year after year.
Choosing a baby name feels permanent — because it is. Yet surveys suggest nearly one in five parents experience meaningful regret about the name they chose, not because the name is objectively wrong, but because naming is an act of identity projection loaded with social pressure and impossible expectations.
HarperCollins released Decoy Saves Opening Day this morning. The book debuted at the top of the NYT children's bestseller list. Children's books move pet names differently than ESPN highlights — they make a pet name a five-year asset rather than a viral moment.
Coco Gauff's Charlie. Naomi Osaka's Shai. Carlos Alcaraz's Lolo, Kira, and Taco. The final week of any Grand Slam is the highest-engagement window for athlete-pet content, and the women's tour drives most of it.
MLB free agency moves star first names across American cities in a way no other major sport allows. The 2026 winter signings are seeding regional SSA ripples that will be visible in birth records by next fall.
Wayne, Mario, Sidney, Connor, Cale, Macklin. Hockey names diffuse into American naming on a five-to-seven-year delay no other sport has. The 2026 All-Star Game in Toronto is the test for whether that lag is closing.
Decoy Ohtani took home the first BBWAA Most Valuable Dog this week, sharing a stage with the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year. The award turns one Dutch Kooikerhondje's name into a global pet-naming signal.
ChatGPT will give you a hundred dog names in four seconds. People accept about one. The interesting data is what they reject — and why pet naming is among the last household tasks where humans still consciously override the model.
College football's national championship moves the SSA file differently than other sports. NIL deals have been compounding the players' first-name exposure since high school. The title game is the last chapter of a four-year build.
Conference Championship Sunday gets dismissed as the appetizer to the Super Bowl. The SSA data says it is the actual week when role-player names break out and quietly outperform the stars.