Interest in Barbie as a baby name increases by 603% amid movie’s success

Interest in Barbie as a baby name has increased by 603 per cent, amid the film’s ongoing success.

Nameberry – which features lists of popular baby names and their meanings on its website – made the revelation about Barbie during a recent interview with People. In data shared with the publication, Nameberry found that searches for the name have gone up by 603 per cent, ever since the trailer for the Greta Gerwig film was first released in April.

Data also found that Ken is rising in popularity too, with Nameberry’s research specifying that searches for the name have gone up by 293 per cent since the Barbie trailer was released.

Speaking to People the Editor-in-Chief of NameBerry, Sophie Kihm, acknowledged that the data doesn’t mean that parents are considering these two names.

“Barbie and Ken are piquing parents’ interest, but this doesn’t mean that will translate into actual usage,” she said. “As of now, Barbie is a predominant Amish name.”

Despite its current rise in popularity on Nameberry, Kihm said that she doesn’t expect searches for Barbie and Ken to continue throughout the year.

“Barbie and Ken are both dated names that aren’t due to come back yet, so while there may be a slight bump from the movie, neither will be among the most popular baby names of 2023,” she said.

According to Nameberry’s list of Top 2,000 baby girl names, which are the names that are trending right now, Barbie is ranked at number 1,896. On the list of Top 2,000 boy names right now, the name Kenneth – as opposed to just Ken – is ranked at the 113th spot.

In addition, BabyNames.com also told TMZ that the site has seen a 300 per cent increase in searches for the name Barbie, throughout the month of July. Ken has also seen an increase in searches by 200 per cent in July.

Following its release on 21 July, Barbie – which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the leads – has continued to rise in success. Aside from accumulating $351.4m in screenings in the US and Canada, Barbie has made at least $20m on every day it has been played in cinemas.

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Globally, the film has now raked an astounding $1.03bn at the box office, according to official Warner Bros estimates.

Gerwig has also broken the domestic box office record for a female director, with Barbie debuting at $155m in North America and $337m globally. The film surpassed the $103.3m domestic opening of Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman and the $153m weekend opening of 2019’s Captain Marvel, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Barbie has continued to be praised on social media, with viewers applauding America Ferra’s speech in it about the real difficulties of being a woman. Fans have also revealed how they’ve personally benefited from Barbie, as women have specified that they are using the film as a “relationship test”. For the test, TikTok users expressed that their boyfriends’ reactions to the film have served as a good indicator of whether their relationship will last.

Along with sharing their key takeaways from the movies, viewers have also showcased some of the bright pink outfits they wore when watching it. Earlier this month, fans praised George RR Martin after he shared a photo of the pink feather boa and matching bow – which was pinned to his hat – that he wore to see Barbie.