The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted nearly every aspect of American life from March 2020 onward. Schools closed, workplaces went remote, and millions of Americans spent unprecedented time at home with their families. Babies conceived during lockdown were born in late 2020 and 2021.
What did parents name them?
The SSA data for 2020, 2021, and 2022 tells a coherent story about pandemic naming psychology: a flight toward the mythological, celestial, and natural; a stability in classic and biblical names; and a notable absence of pandemic-specific naming (no Covids, no Coronas, no Lockdowns).
The pandemic naming shifts
| Name | 2019 Rank | 2020 Rank | 2021 Rank | 2022 Rank | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luna | #15 | #14 | #11 | #10 | ↑ rose sharply |
| Aurora | #44 | #36 | #34 | #33 | ↑ consistent rise |
| Maeve | #272 | #228 | #194 | #162 | ↑ accelerated |
| Theo | #206 | #175 | #148 | #117 | ↑ accelerated |
| Oliver | #3 | #3 | #3 | #3 | → anchor |
| Charlotte | #6 | #4 | #4 | #3 | ↑ slight |
| Liam | #1 | #1 | #1 | #1 | → anchor |
| Madison | #14 | #18 | #22 | #27 | ↓ accelerated decline |
| Addison | #35 | #43 | #48 | #55 | ↓ accelerated decline |
The celestial and mythological surge
The clearest pandemic naming signal was a surge in celestial, mythological, and nature names — names that evoke something larger than everyday life.
Luna was one of the biggest movers. It went from #15 in 2019 to #10 in 2022 — during the exact pandemic period. Luna means "moon" in Latin and Italian, and functions simultaneously as a nature name, a mythology name (the Roman moon goddess), and a Harry Potter character name. It offers escape from the mundane.
Aurora followed the same arc. The Roman goddess of dawn, associated with the northern lights, went from #44 pre-pandemic to #33 by 2022. Aurora is one of the longer names in the top 50 — five syllables — which normally slows a name's rise. That it kept climbing through the pandemic suggests strong pull.
Maeve — Irish mythology queen — accelerated its rise from #272 in 2019 to #162 in 2022. Three years, over 100 rank spots.
The pattern makes psychological sense. During a period of anxiety and confinement, parents may have been drawn to names that evoke wide-open spaces, celestial grandeur, and mythological permanence — a counterbalance to the smallness of quarantine life.
Traditional and classical names held steady
While celestial names surged, the traditional anchors didn't budge.
Liam (#1 in 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022) didn't gain or lose from the pandemic. Same for Oliver at #3, Noah at #2, Emma near the top, and Charlotte in the top 5.
This suggests the pandemic had two distinct effects: it accelerated already-rising trends (celestial/mythological names climbing faster) while leaving established classics undisturbed. The pandemic didn't reset naming preferences — it amplified whatever was already in motion.
The home and nature theme
Sage — Girls #213 in 2022, up from #322 in 2019.
Wren — Girls #292 in 2022, up from #488 in 2019.
Ivy — Girls #51 in 2022, up from #77 in 2019.
Fern — Entering the top 1,000 for the first time since the 1940s.
Names connected to gardens, plants, and the natural world rose during the pandemic period. This tracks with the explosion of houseplants, outdoor walking, and garden projects that characterized 2020-2021 lockdowns. Parents who spent months gardening and watching nature shows chose nature names.
See nature-names for the full picture of botanical naming.
What parents didn't name their children
The absence of pandemic-specific names is notable. The SSA data shows essentially zero babies named Covid, Corona, Rona, Pandemic, or Lockdown in the 2020-2022 period (or so few they don't appear in published data).
This contrasts with some historical precedents — there were small spikes of Katrina after Hurricane Katrina, and some parents have named children after significant events. But COVID was clearly experienced as too negative, too contemporary, and too ongoing to be a naming inspiration. Parents were using names to escape the pandemic, not commemorate it.
Theo: the pandemic's breakout boy name
Theo — Boys #117 in 2022, up from #206 in 2019.
Theo (short form of Theodore or Theodoros, meaning "gift of God") had been climbing for years but accelerated sharply during the pandemic.
| Year | Rank | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #393 | 760 |
| 2017 | #259 | 1,440 |
| 2019 | #206 | 1,804 |
| 2020 | #175 | 2,101 |
| 2021 | #148 | 2,491 |
| 2022 | #117 | 2,951 |
| 2024 | #106 | 3,376 |
Theo is now in the top 110 and still climbing. It's a vintage revival name (Theodore was a top-50 name from the 1880s through the 1920s) that has the warmth and classical feel that suited pandemic-era naming preferences. See vintage-boy-names-comeback.
Madison: the pandemic loser
Madison — Girls #27 in 2022, down from #14 in 2019.
Madison (as a girls name — originally a surname meaning "son of Matthew") peaked at #2 in 2001-2002 and has been declining. The pandemic accelerated its fall. By 2024 it's at #35 — still very common, but clearly a name of the 2000s rather than the 2020s.
This is the generational aging effect in real time. Madison sounds like someone born in 2002. Parents in 2020-2022 were choosing names that felt fresh and aspirational, not names they remembered from their own generation's schoolrooms.
The lasting pandemic legacy
The pandemic baby naming story is ultimately one of amplification rather than transformation. It accelerated trends that were already in motion — celestial names, nature names, vintage revivals — rather than creating new categories.
By 2023-2024, most pandemic-era names have either continued their rise (Luna, Aurora, Theo) or stabilized. There's no evidence of a sharp post-pandemic correction. The names that rose during COVID have mostly stayed risen.
The one lasting legacy may be a heightened preference for names with transcendent meanings — names that point toward something larger than the immediate moment. That's a preference that tends to persist once established.
See celestial-names, nature-names, and rising-girl-names-2024 for where these trends stand today.