Game of Thrones Names update!

Game of Thrones Names in the USA

Game of Thrones is a tv series that debuted in the USA in 2011, and concluded in 2019. It was based on A Song of Ice and Fire, a series by George R. R. Martin, whose first book was published in 1996 (a list of characters from the books is here: Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire Series). There are a lot of names in the books, but it wasn't until the tv series came out on HBO that parents started choosing the characters' names for their own kids.

Let's start with 2018 and work backwards. Last year, the following names debuted in the USA from the series:

GIRLS: Gilly (also with the alternative spelling, Gili), Myrcella
BOYS: Aegon, Benjin, Rhaegar

The true winner, though is Khaleesi. In the series, this isn't technically a name, it is a title meaning something like "queen," or rather, the wife of a khal, who is a tribal leader. Since 2011, there have been 2520 girls born named Khaleesi in the USA. Khaleesi has also spawned a number of alternate spellings, including:

Calisi
Khaleesy
Khaleesie
Kaleesi
Kalisee
Kalesi
Kahleesi
Kalisi
Khalesi
Caleesi
Khalisi
Khalessy
Khalessi
Kalessi

 Altogether, the variant spellings add another 544 girls with the name.

Add to this another variation: Khaleesia, which has had 46 namesakes from 2014-2018.

Altogether,  Khaleesi and friends represent the names of 3110 girls in the USA, reaching its highest ranking so far, #437 in 2018.

Khaleesi is one of the titles of Daenerys Targaryen, aka Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons. But what of her other names?

Daenerys was given to 630 girls from 2011-2018. The name also spawned the variant spellings, both bestowed on kids in 2018 Daenarys (8 instances) and Danerys (7 instances). 

Daenerys's nickname is Dani. How has that fared? Well, Dani has been used as a given name for girls since at least the 1940s. Since its debut in the Social Security database in 1942, it has been used an average of 87.2 times per year. Since 2011, when GoT debuted, its average has gone up to 242.25 instances per year. Was it just getting more popular in general, or did GoT really have an impact? Well, for the decade before 2011, Dani averaged 157.2 instances per year, so I'd say yes!

Another one of Daenerys's epithets, "Mhysa" (meaning "mother") has been recorded at least once (in Germany).

Other New Names Added

Other names from the series have also debuted in the top 7000 in the USA because of Game of Thrones. For girls, the names added are:

Name                               # total given 2011-2018

Sansa	118
Renly (f)	88
Nymeria	46
Olenna	18
Gilly/Gili	13
Cersei	11
Myrcella	6

In GoT, Renly was a male character, but the name Wren has been rising in popularity for both genders, so it makes sense that the name has been given to girls. It's kind of awesome that Nymeria is the 3rd most commonly given name invented by the series, because it's the name of a wolf!

And for boys, the names are:

Name                   # total given 2014-2018

Renly (m)	223
Jorah	83
Snow (m)	31
Aerys	21
Bronn	20
Benjen/Benjin	19
Arryn	16
Tywin	15
Samwell	13
Rhaegar	11
Khal	9
Aegon	6

Snow has sporadically been used for girls throughout the decades, but before GoT, it was never before used for boys. The Character of Jon Snow's first name (Jon) didn't really budge in popularity, probably because it is fairly ordinary. Snow, however, is unusual and lends itself well to a first name, especially with the relatively recent rise in popularity of names like Winter and Rain.

Old Names in a New Context

Game of Thrones also used a lot of names that had been already established in the USA before the series started. How has it impacted these names?

Some names showed no impact. These are names that are fairly standard, and have been used for decades. These include:

Ned, Jon, Robb, Jaime, and Catelyn.

Certain names already in use got a bump in popularity thanks to GoT. These include

Name             % Increase from the previous decade's average
 

Arya	90%
Theon	88%
Aemon	86%
Lyanna	79%
Snow (f)	78%
Bran	74%
Tyrion	71%
Yara	42%
Dani	35%
Brienne	32%

An interesting case is Mance. This name was introduced in 1882, and only appeared 197 times in the following 126 years, with the most Mances born in one year being 9 in 1914, 1947, and 1949. The name disappeared after 1982, only to resurface in 2012. However, the character of Mance Rayder didn't appear until season 3, which started in 2013. Coincidence? Probably.

Game of Thrones' last season was in 2018, and there may be more babies to be named from the series for years to come. Who knows, maybe we will revisit this list in the future!