Move over, Emma and Liam — AI has suggested a new favorite baby name, and it has parents buzzing.
Meet Elara, the Greek-inspired, vowel-forward name that’s buzzing through chatbots, AI stories, and even math workbooks.
Smooth, sleek, and totally baggage-free (after all, have you ever actually known anyone named Elara?), it’s the moniker that tech can’t stop raving about — but would you actually dare to name your kid after a robot’s pick?
Naming expert Laura Watternberg just might. In a recent viral blog post, the expert on patterns, data and cultural shifts declared the unexpected name as the must-have baby name of 2025.
“Elara is an extremely rare name in the human world. In the world of generative AI… the name is a smash hit,” Wattenberg wrote.
The AI obsession is real: the name pops up everywhere, from ChatGPT to niche character generators. “They populate every writing genre from math word problems to novels,” Wattenberg noted, making Elara the unofficial star of AI-generated content.
Somehow, the name has even become a poster child for the endless churn of machine-made material — what she playfully calls “AI slop.”
Wattenberg sees it as more than just a quirk. In her words, “That makes Elara the 2025 Name of the Year.”
And for the rest of us, it’s a peek at how AI could shape the baby-name game in the years to come: a perfect storm of tech, style, and cultural flavor.
As it turns out, across Reddit, moms-to-be have been quietly stanning Elara for years — long before AI crowned it cool.
One parent wrote, “Good friends of mine have a 3 year old named Elara Iris. It’s a pretty name. I had never heard it before.”
Another gushed, “Adore it! I think it sounds really pretty and has great international appeal.”
Others love the myth-meets-magic vibes. “I love Elara! And I feel like it’s associations with Greek mythology and the moon of Jupiter could make for fun nursery decor,” one commenter said.
And for those leaning full fairy-core, another summed it up perfectly: “It feels like a witch name, or maybe a fairy name” — even likening it to “Elora Danan” from the classic 1988 fantasy film, “Willow.”
While some parents are going the exotic route, New York City parents are still playing it relatively safe — for now.
The city’s top baby names of 2024 were dominated by familiar chart-toppers like Mia, Noah, Emma and Liam, with vintage throwbacks like Esther sneaking into the top 10 and gender-neutral picks quietly gaining steam.
Elara, notably, is nowhere to be found — proof that while Big Apple parents may love nostalgia and neutrality, AI’s darling name is still waiting in the digital wings, poised to leap from chatbot favorite to birth-certificate breakout.
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