Could these names set your baby up for success?

Family & ParentingLifestyle
18 Sep 2026 • 11:48 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Could these names set your baby up for success?

Picking a baby name is no easy task, but new research suggests some names may have a little more star power behind them than others.

A new analysis from casino platform McLuck, examined lists of high-profile winners in sports, entertainment and business over the past decade to identify the names that appeared most often.

The result? Taylor topped the girls’ list, while Nikola claimed the top spot among boys.

Of course, having one of these names doesn't guarantee a future Oscar, NBA championship or billion-dollar fortune. The rankings simply reflect how frequently the names appeared among successful people included in the analysis.

Taylor was the most frequent name among the female winners. And perhaps that’s no surprise - pop superstar Taylor Swift appeared six times among American Artist of the Year winners in the past decade.

Emma ranked second for girls. The name represented two different winners in the research: Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone and U.S. Open tennis champion Emma Raducanu.

Frances came in third, with the result attributed to actress Frances McDormand, who won the Oscar for Best Actress twice in the last ten years.

The 10 ‘luckiest’ girl names:

  1. Taylor
  2. Emma
  3. Frances
  4. Aryna
  5. Naomi
  6. Chloe
  7. Jane
  8. Jessica
  9. Jessie
  10. Michelle.
Taylor tops the list of 10 ’ luckiest ’ girl names, thanks to pop superstar Taylor Swift (AFP/Getty)

For boys, Nikola claimed the No. 1 spot, thanks to basketball star Nikola Jokic.

Jokic has won the NBA's Most Valuable Player award three times over the past decade, giving the name a strong showing. Carlos came in second, tied with tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, who has won the U.S. Open twice during the period studied.

Jeff rounded out the top three. This was based on Forbes’ rich lists, where Jeff appeared as the first name of four people high in the rankings - presumably due to Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon.

The 10 ‘luckiest’ boy names:

  1. Nikola
  2. Carlos
  3. Jeff
  4. Novak
  5. Rafael
  6. Aaron
  7. Giannis
  8. Lamar
  9. Patrick
  10. Shai.
Nikola takes the No. 1 spot for the ‘luckiest’ boy's name, thanks to the Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić (Getty)

Parents are increasingly turning to the internet for help choosing names. U.S. searches for “how to choose a baby name” have jumped 300 percent this month, according to McLuck.

The company analyzed winners from the Oscars, American Artist of the Year, NBA and NFL MVP awards, U.S. Open championships and Forbes' richest-person rankings, among others. It weighted the awards based on factors including prestige, international recognition and competitiveness.

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