Game of Thrones fans are taking their love of Daenerys Targaryen to a new level, with data showing that more babies were named Khaleesi in 2012 than were named Betsy or Nadine, much more common names.
Khaleesi is the title given to the character Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, as the queen of the Dothraki. Daenerys has become a stand out character in the popular fantasy show as the mother of dragons and a strong female ruling in the world of men.
Wednesday, April 9, the Social Security Administration released a list of the most popular baby names of 2012, with Jacob and Sophia taking the top spots. However, two names from Game of Thrones experienced an exponential growth in popularity, with Khaleesi eclipsing more traditional girls’ names, such as Betsy, and Arya becoming the fastest growing girls’ name in 2012.
According to the data, there were 146 females born in 2012 who were named Khaleesi and only 21 who were named Daenerys, something that has caused a bit of outrage among Game of Thrones fans, as Khaleesi is not actually a name, but a title. Furthermore, according to Game of Thrones Wiki, Khaleesi means the wife of the khal, the Dothraki king, meaning that, in a sense, babies are being named ‘wife.’
That said, Khaleesi has yet to crack into the 1,000 most popular female baby names, while Arya has been in the top 1,000 for the past three years, beginning in 2010 when it was ranked 942nd.
Arya, played by Maisie Williams in Game of Thrones, is a young tomboy in the series who is fighting to reunite with her family and avenge the death of her father. The name is ranked the highest in “Change in Popularity,” going from being ranked 711th most popular baby name in 2011 to 413th in 2012, jumping a huge 298 spots on the list – over one hundred more than the name in second place.
Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO and was just officially picked up for two more seasons.
– Olivia Truffaut-Wong
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