--- description: Thanks to the overwhelming success of The Force Awakens, baby names inspired by Star Wars are on the rise once again. title: These Two The Force Awakens Characters Are Inspiring Star Wars Baby Names image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # These Two _The Force Awakens_ Characters Are Inspiring _Star Wars_ Baby Names  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Mar 30, 2016 6:26 PM CUT  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Mar 30, 2016 6:26 PM CUT Thanks to the overwhelming success of the latest[ _Star Wars_](http://time.com/4112165/every-star-wars-death/ "undefined") installment, _The Force Awakens_, baby names inspired by the space fantasy series are on the rise once again. Two of the galaxy far, far away’s newest characters have quickly rocketed up the list of trending baby names since the film’s release in December, according to [Babycenter.com](http://www.babycenter.com/0%5F2016-baby-name-trends%5F10411309.bc "undefined"). Parents have become fond of naming their newborn girls [Rey](http://time.com/4253729/daisy-ridley-appearance/ "undefined") — after the scavenger played by Daisy Ridley — while little boys are being dubbed Kylo as a nod to Adam Driver’s villainous [Kylo Ren](http://time.com/4271127/force-awakens-unseen-footage/ "undefined"). The two names have both spiked in popularity, moving up 82 and 67 percent on the girls’ and boys’ lists, respectively. **Read More:** [This Epic Video Follows the Journey of Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber](http://time.com/4276149/luke-skywalker-lightsaber-journey/?xid=homepage "undefined") “(Rey is) a fierce warrior, a Jedi master. If you’re looking for a strong girl’s name that embodies power but still sounds beautiful, you can’t do much better than Rey,” Linda Murray, Babycenter global editor-in-chief, told [Today.com](http://www.today.com/parents/baby-kylo-force-star-wars-baby-name-trend-t83206 "undefined"). “I was surprised by the rise in interest in Kylo because the character Kylo Ren is such a negative force, but some parents may be attracted to the power and the darkness in this name.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4276601/star-wars-baby-names-rey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4276601/star-wars-baby-names-rey/"},"headline":"These Two The Force Awakens Characters Are Inspiring Star Wars Baby Names","datePublished":"2016-03-30T18:26:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:31:14.901Z","description":"The force is strong with these younglings","url":"https://time.com/4276601/star-wars-baby-names-rey/","keywords":["Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4276601/star-wars-baby-names-rey/","name":"These Two The Force Awakens Characters Are Inspiring Star Wars Baby Names"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Star Wars: The Force Awakens Deleted Scenes Teaser","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lToHEBlt/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-03-29T20:27:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lToHEBlt.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4276601/star-wars-baby-names-rey/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4276601/star-wars-baby-names-rey/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```