This popular boys name in America isn't what we were expecting

Really?

We knew people really liked the new Star Wars generation, but didn’t realise they liked it this much. With characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens like Daisy Ridley's Rey and John Boyega's Finn becoming fan favourites, one unexpected villain has officially captured the hearts of new parents in America - Kylo Ren.

According to a survey of new baby names by the Social Security Administration, Kylo is officially the fastest growing baby name for boys in the USA. After clocking in as the 3269th most popular boys’ name in 2015, it leapt a whopping 2368 places to 901 in 2016 and saw the largest increase over the year.

The Rocky sequel Creed also evidently had a big impact on American parents, as the names of its characters Creed and Adonis followed behind at second place and fourth place respectively. In contrast, Kehlani (presumably inspired by the singer) saw the biggest surge in popularity for girls’ names and outperformed Kylo with an increase of 2487 with Royalty and Saoirse ranking in at second and third.

The survey also looked at the least popular baby names and it seems that Caitlyn Jenner wasn’t a favourite name with new parents. Four different variations of the name including Caitlin, Caitlyn, Katelynn and Kaitlynn took the cake for worst performing girls’ names in 2016. On the other hand, boys’ names weren’t nearly as pop-culture oriented with Jonael, Aeden and Triston taking the bottom three places.

Kylo Ren, Star Wars’ conflicted villain and the estranged son of Han Solo and Princess Leia, is played by Adam Driver and will take to the silver screen again in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, released in the UK on 15 December 2017. Who knows, depending on the events of the film we could see even more little Kylos popping up in the future.

Megan is a freelance journalist who covers entertainment and all things lifestyle, with a particular passion for fashion, beauty, travel and Keanu Reeves stories. She has previously worked on staff for titles including Marie Claire UK, CNN Style and The Evening Standard and has written for titles such as Bustle UK, Wallpaper*, Forbes and Hong Kong Tatler. She splits her time between London and her hometown Hong Kong, where she currently lives with the love of her life - an elderly dog named Poppy - and her husband.