Parents Name Babies After Serial Killers: Shocking New Trend Revealed!

It’s common for parents to draw inspiration for baby names from pop culture. However, this year, the inspiration is skewing towards the macabre, influenced heavily by popular true crime series.

As noted in BabyCentre UK’s Top 100 Baby Names of 2025, names such as Ted (referencing Ted Bundy), Anna (alluding to Anna Delvey), and Rose (connected to Rose West) are climbing the popularity charts. This trend isn’t about paying tribute to notorious criminals but rather reflects their notoriety due to extensive coverage on streaming media.

Baby naming expert SJ Strum points out, “The choice of these names isn’t directly due to the crimes themselves. Rather, it’s about how these names have seeped into our consciousness through captivating series, podcasts, and viral media that parents consume.”

This naming trend aligns with what’s trending in entertainment, especially on platforms like Netflix and in the world of true crime podcasts. Zac Efron’s portrayal of Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, the dramatization of Anna Delvey’s story in Inventing Anna, and the focus on Fred and Rose West in A British Horror Story exemplify this. Even names associated with less notorious figures like Belle Gibson and Ruby Franke, who have been subjects of documentaries, are finding their way into birth certificates.

Parents Opt for Names Notorious in True Crime

The list from BabyCentre also highlights names like Joseph, potentially boosted by the infamous Joe Exotic from Tiger King. The names Freddie and Rose are gaining traction, eerily reminiscent of the criminal duo they represent. Other names making the rounds include Erin (tied to a mushroom poisoning incident), Arthur (potentially linked to the Zodiac killer), and Luca from the documentary Don’t F**k With Cats.

While some may dismiss these correlations as mere coincidence, experts believe it’s a natural outcome when true crime dominates popular media. “It’s intriguing to see how culture influences language and, subsequently, the names we choose for our babies,” observes Strum.

Despite the grim sources, not all trending names are sinister. Names like Luna, Nova, and Aurora are also popular, showing that inspiration comes from a variety of sources, not just the dark corners of true crime. Yet, when tales of murderers, con artists, and cult leaders inundate our screens, their names linger in the public memory, often attributed to their twisted allure or the glamorous portrayal in media.

Historically, names were often derived from saints or family elders. Today, the influence of true crime stories is undeniable, reflecting a peculiar twist in our cultural narrative.