1. Blue: The year was bookended by Blue, the name and color of 2012. January   saw the much-anticipated birth of Blue Ivy, the daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z,   who quickly moved to trademark their child’s singular name. And 2012 culminated   in the reelection of Democratic President Obama and a political swing toward   the blue. Other color names on the rise include Silver, as in political prognosticator   Nate, Scarlett, Violet, and Grey, as in erotic hit “50 Shades.”

2. Katniss: The runaway hit The Hunger Games, which achieved mass popularity   on the big screen this year, introduced the herbal name Katniss to the world.   While Katniss attracted the most views of any name on Nameberry in 2012 –   60,000 page views, nearly 20,000 more than the next most-viewed name -- we predict   that actual babies will be more likely be given the names of minor characters   Rue, Primrose, and Cato.

3. Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence: Everything other parents can   do when it comes to naming their babies, celebrities can do better – and   bigger and wilder and more outrageously. And so now that ordinary Americans   are following the lead of British royalty and giving their babies not one but   two middle names, movie star Uma Thurman – who’s got a pretty out-there   name of her own – and her businessman boyfriend Arpad Busson gave their   daughter four middle names in addition to her first name and hyphenated surname,   adding up to a total of seven names. Or wait, make that eight, since the little   girl is to be known by yet another appellation, Luna.

4. Hashtag: Want publicity? Give your baby an absurd internet term as a first   name and the whole world wide web will pay attention. Last year introduced us   to babies Like and Facebook, and 2012 brings us (possibly apocryphal) reports   of baby girl Hashtag Jameson. Little Hashtag’s parents announced their   bundle of joy’s name on Facebok, then sat back and let the media frenzy   unfold. No one ever confirmed whether there’s a real baby legally named   Hashtag, and we’re betting it was a joke. But with the popularity of tech-inspired   names like Apple and Siri, we can’t totally rule out baby Hashtag.

5. Zamzam: Our choice for a name that best represents the spirit of the Olympics   is not London, which amazingly is already in the Top 100 for girls, but Zamzam,   first name of the Somali runner who may have finished last on the track but   won the hearts of many viewers. Representing her war-torn nation and refusing   to break her Ramadan fast for the competition, Zamzam Mohamed Farah’s first   name comes from a famous holy well in Mecca.

6. Maxwell: The name Maxwell was most notable for wielding a silver hammer   in the Beatles’ song until two celebrities in 2012 pushed it across the   gender line by choosing it for their daughters. Singer Jessica Simpson’s   little girl with former football player Eric Johnson is named Maxwell Drew,   called Maxi, but earlier in the year actress Lindsay Sloane named her daughter   Maxwell Lue. Other celebrities whose baby name choice defied gender conventions   in 2012 include Peaches Geldof’s son Astala Dylan Willow and Mike Eli’s   daughter Kline.

7. Beretta: Badass baby names dominated the rosters this year, but gun name   Beretta, chosen as a middle for newborn daughter Breeze by Bristol Palin babydaddy   Levi Johnston, may be the most outrageous of the pack. Other badass choices   we’ve heard in 2012: Rebel, Shooter, Gunner, and Blade.

8. Kingsolomon: Not born into royalty like the most-anticipated baby of next   year? No problem; you can build a royal title into your first name. Among the   babies on the U.S. extended popularity list are five boys named Kingsolomon   as well as children named Kingdavid, Princemichael, Sircharles, and Milady.

9. Vanellope: Speaking of royalty, the newest princess created by Disney sports   the outrageous name of Vanellope von Schweetz . One of the leading characters   in "Wreck it Ralph," voiced by Sarah Silverman, Vanellope is kind   of a smoosh between Vanilla and Penelope. Among her co-characters are Taffyta   and Wynchel.

10. Mykale, Linzi, Payzlee: Why use Michael, the most popular name in the US   for three decades, when you can spell it Mykale? “Yooneek” spellings   of familiar names are one of America’s most outrageous baby name trends   of 2012, with official lists including such kreeative variations as Linzi, Payzlee,   Izayah, Jovani, Leigha and Kyndall.

11. Sabbath: At first, Sabbath sounds like one of the newer spiritual names,   commemorating the traditional day of worship and rest. But wait! The father   of little Sabbath Page Wielandt Wylde is none other than hard rocker Zakk Wylde,   who’s recently been touring with Ozzy Osbourne of the quintessential heavy   metal band Black Sabbath. So much for a day of rest. The Page part honors legendary   Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, and Wielandt is Wylde’s original surname.   An older son’s names also call up Wylde musical idols—(Jimi) Hendrix   and (Van) Halen.

12. Kick: Kick is the middle name chosen by Law and Order’s Jeremy Sisto   for his son Bastian, representative of the kind of anything-goes non-name middles   that are a hallmark trend of 2012; see also in Sisto’s daughter Charlie-Ballerina   and Tobey Maguire’s girl Ruby Sweetheart. Other starbaby middles include   Song and Story, Painter and Pip, Bravery and Bebop, Rocket and Midnight. With   Kick, Sisto has said they scoured the dictionary looking for words that aren’t   normally names; we just have to wonder at what stage of the pregnancy the idea   for Kick kicked in.