Game of Thrones Baby Names: Arya #162, 434 Babies Named Khaleesi, and Why Cersei Has 6

Game of Thrones (HBO, 2011–2019) was the most-watched premium cable drama in history. Its influence on baby names is surprisingly nuanced: one hero's name broke into the mainstream; a fictional title became a name (one of the strangest events in naming history); and the most iconic female villain has effectively zero babies named after her.

Arya — the breakout name

Arya — Girls #162 (1,863 babies). Arya Stark, the fierce young sword-fighter, is one of the most beloved characters in the series. The name's trajectory tracks GoT's popularity almost exactly:

Arya peaked in 2019 — exactly when the final season aired — and has been declining since. The GoT effect is clear in the data.

An important distinction: Arya is also a legitimate Sanskrit name (Arya, अर्य, meaning "noble, honorable"), widely used in Indian, Persian, and broader South Asian naming traditions. In 2010, before GoT aired, there were already 273 babies named Arya — so the name wasn't invented by the show. The GoT effect was a massive amplification of a name that already existed.

By 2019, the show's Arya had pushed the name to #92 with 3,050 babies — roughly 10 times the pre-GoT baseline. The character's arc (the young girl who trained as an assassin and ultimately killed the Night King) made Arya the aspirational GoT name for girls: fierce, independent, unexpectedly powerful.

Khaleesi — the strangest naming story in modern data

Khaleesi — Girls #665 (434 babies). Khaleesi is not a character name. It is a title — it means "Queen" in Dothraki, a fictional language invented by linguist David J. Peterson for the show. Daenerys Targaryen is referred to as Khaleesi by the Dothraki people because she married their Khal (chief).

Despite being a title in a fictional language, there were 434 babies named Khaleesi in 2024. The peak was 564 in 2018. Khaleesi has been registered in the SSA data every year since 2011:

This is unprecedented in naming history: a word from an invented language, used as a title rather than a personal name, adopted by hundreds of American parents as a baby name. Khaleesi/Daenerys is the fire-breathing dragon queen of the series, and in the early seasons (before the controversial final season) she was the most aspirational female character: conquering, liberating, commanding dragons.

Khaleesi remains more popular than Daenerys (the actual character's name). The title felt grander than the name.

Daenerys — the actual name, less used

Daenerys — #1,554 (136 babies). Daenerys Targaryen's actual name is used by far fewer babies than her title. The name peaked at 166 babies in 2018 and fell sharply after the widely-panned Season 8 finale (2019) in which Daenerys turned villain and destroyed a city.

The Season 8 backlash had a naming effect: Daenerys fell from 166 (2018) to 85 (2020) — the biggest single-year drop of any GoT name. Parents who had planned to use Daenerys apparently reconsidered after the character's controversial ending.

Lyanna — the quiet climber

Lyanna — #957 (272 babies). Lyanna Stark is Ned Stark's sister and Jon Snow's biological mother — a character who appears primarily in flashbacks. Lyanna's story was fully revealed in Season 6 (2016): the legendary "Robert's Rebellion" was fought over her, and she died giving birth to Jon in the Tower of Joy.

The Season 6 revelation had an immediate naming effect:

Lyanna is still holding at 272 babies — more durable than Khaleesi or Daenerys, partly because Lyanna has an independent appeal as a variant of Leanna/Liana/Lianna that doesn't feel like pure GoT fandom.

Why Cersei has 6 babies

Cersei — 6 babies in 2024. Cersei Lannister is one of the most memorable female characters in television history — brilliant, ruthless, scheming, ultimately tragic. She is the most recognizable female antagonist of the series.

And essentially no one has named their child after her.

The mechanism is the same as the Harry Potter principle: Hermione (beloved protagonist) has 122 babies; Cersei (brilliant but evil queen) has 6. Parents avoid names that are too strongly coded as a specific fictional person, and especially avoid villain names. Naming your daughter Cersei is making a statement about the character that most parents don't want to make.

The one interesting exception: Sansa (15 babies). Sansa Stark began the series as a naive, passive character who was widely disliked by early audiences before her survival arc made her a fan favorite in later seasons. She never became a naming phenomenon — the early character associations were too strong.

The GoT naming hierarchy

Based on the data:

What works:

• Names with independent cultural backing (Arya = Sanskrit)
• Hero names with unconventional, powerful associations (Arya the assassin)
• Title-as-name for aspirational characters (Khaleesi)
• Names of posthumously-important supporting characters (Lyanna)

What doesn't work:

• The actual protagonist's name when she turns villain (Daenerys in 2019)
• Villain names regardless of how iconic (Cersei)
• Supporting character names without distinctive sounds (Sansa, Theon, Jorah)
• Overtly masculine characters with no crossover appeal (Tyrion, Davos, Tormund)

The GoT rule: Like Harry Potter, GoT effects work when the name has backing beyond the show. Arya existed before GoT and will exist after. Khaleesi's success is the exception — a pure fandom adoption that defies the usual rule.

How GoT compares to Harry Potter

GoT's most distinctive naming contribution is Khaleesi — a title-as-name that has no parallel in HP or any other franchise. Luna has an independent etymology (Latin moon, Spanish luna) that makes it viable long after HP fades; Khaleesi has only the show.

Explore: Arya · Lyanna · Daenerys

Data: SSA 2010–2024 US releases. Game of Thrones season dates from official records.