Professional Baby Namer Predicts 2026 Trends, Including Y2K Influences and Names Straight Out of Dictionaries

Colleen Slagen has been a professional baby name consultant since 2022, when she left her full-time job as a nurse practitioner to turn her longtime love of names into a career.

Since then, she’s built a recognizable brand, attracted thousands of followers on social media, and gathered her best guidance into her book, Naming Bebe: An Interactive Guide to Choosing the Baby Name You Love.

Now, as more parents look for a name that feels just right, Slagen says her consultations are all about context. She tailors every session to the family, factoring in everything from heritage and meaning to sibling names and the overall “fit” a name has within a household.

She also keeps a close eye on the way naming styles rise and fall—distinguishing between the names that seem built to last and the ones that flash into popularity and fade. Heading into 2026, she’s already seeing clear themes in what parents are drawn to.

One of the strongest currents Slagen is noticing right now is the pull toward “short, four-letter names,” which she says feel “effortlessly cool and nickname-proof.”

For girls, she points to names like Indi, Gwen, Lana and Alba. For boys, she sees the same energy in Luca (or Luka), Rome, Elio, Dean and Bode.

“I have worked with so many families who have accidentally started this trend with their children and then continued it for the whole set!” Slagen says.

Slagen is also known for labeling trends in memorable ways, and she believes 2026 will bring more “Andi Anderson names”—a nod to early-2000s pop culture.

“Us millennials have never forgotten Kate Hudson’s iconic role as Andi Anderson in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” she explains. “So much so that it’s influencing our baby naming.”

The twist, she adds, is that many of these names are traditionally associated with boys—something she says can be controversial for parents who’ve long had those names in mind.

Whether everyone loves it or not, she expects more girls named Andie, Drew, Bennie, Dylan, Logan and Stevie.

Then there are what Slagen calls “Goldilocks names”—the sweet spot names that feel classic without sounding like everyone else’s pick.

“When everyone is looking the other way at the same time, a trend is born along with the baby,” she says. In particular, she sees French-leaning names as a growing favorite because of their timeless elegance. She even gives these the alternate label “Pardon My French names.”

For girls, that could mean Eloise, Celine, Juliette, Vivienne, Collette, Elodie and Margot. For boys, she names Remy, Julien, Sebastian, Hugo and Louie.

For parents who want something less traditional, Slagen says “Merriam-Webster names” are sticking around—names that are clearly words you might find in a dictionary, but still feel usable as names.

She credits celebrity choices for helping normalize the style, noting the ripple effect from highly publicized unconventional names. Influencers, she adds, often push the trend even further.

“It’s a way for people to pick something that is very unique as a baby name, but a word that is familiar/easy to say and spell,” she explains.

Examples she predicts include girls named Winter, Ever, Cherry, Story and Haven, and boys named Rowdy, Halo, Ranger, Coast and Arch.

Finally, Slagen says 2026 will likely see more of what she calls “sustainably sourced names”—a blend of nature-inspired choices that still feel polished and wearable.

“Nature meets Old Hollywood,” she says. “These names evoke a sense of nature while not feeling quite as hippie as names like Clover.”

On the boys’ side, she expects a more preppy feel, with options like Oak (or Oakes), Woods, Rocky, Wells, Fields and Stone.

For girls, she sees a rise in nickname-style names being used as full given names: Kit, Scout, Birdie, Goldie and Dove. As Slagen puts it, fewer parents are worried about whether it sounds like a formal “resume” name—and more focused on whether it feels right.