We May Soon Be Seeing An Influx of Babies Named Barbie (And Ken)
Remember how once Game of Thrones got going there was a sudden craze for “Daenerys” and “Khaleesi” as baby names? Well, we might be about to have a more wholesome version of that, and no-one’s going to set fire to an entire city with a dragon this time. A new, nicer blonde heroine has come along.
Who? Barbie, of course! One intriguing side-effect of her movie being such a box office smash is that now, apparently, people are interested in naming their children after her!
***This article contains major spoilers for Barbie***
Is ‘Barbie’ Barbie’s actual name?
Now, “Barbie” is generally used as a nickname for “Barbara” and that’s the case with our Barbie as well. According to Barbie lore, her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts—and she got that first name from the daughter of her creator, Ruth Handler. There’s a very touching scene in the movie where Ruth (played by Rhea Perlman) explains to Margot Robbie’s Barbie where she got her name from and how she was created to be the sort of doll little girls like Barbara would want to play with.
At the end of the movie, Barbie introduces herself as “Barbara” and takes the surname of Ruth Handler. So things go full circle and she becomes Barbara Handler.
It’s time we brought the name Barbie back!
Recently, a spokesperson for the website Babynames.com told TMZ that during the month of July, searches for the name “Barbie” had shot up by 300%. That’s not all! Searches for the name “Ken” have also drastically increased, although rather fittingly, Ken is still lagging behind Barbie. Searches for his name have gone up by 200%.
But what about Allan, one of the movie’s breakout stars? Alas, Babynames.com clarified that no one was searching for the name “Allan” any more than usual. Awww, poor Allan.
Twitter was rather delighted by this turn of events, as it gave them an excuse to get a meme going. (Makes you wonder if anyone out there is planning to name a baby “Oppenheimer.” Please don’t do that.)
What do the names ‘Barbie’ and ‘Ken’ actually mean?
In case you’re wondering, according to Babynames.com the name “Barbie” is “a female name of American origin that means Stranger.” The website also notes that “Barbie” is “not in the top 100 on the Baby Names Popularity Charts” but that may be about to change!
As for Ken, his name is “primarily a male name of Scottish origin that means Handsome.” And that should be Kenough for any prospective parent.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
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