In 2015, all the babies will be called...

Every year parents seem to get more and more, umm, adventurous, when it comes to choosing a name for their little sprout. (And yes, the name that they land on may actually be Sprout. Don’t laugh, you’ll hurt 121 ‘Sprout’s’ feelings).

And by the looks of it 2015 offers no exception, as parents of all ages look set to continue following these trends when it comes to deciding on a baby name.

Nameberry.com recently released its list of 15 of the hottest baby name trends for 2015. And whilst there’s always the predictable and unusual favourites, this year there’s also the wonderful and the whacky.

The top baby names for 2014 are in. And there’s a few surprises.

The trend to watch – definitional names.

These are the names bestowed upon babies whose parents clearly have high hopes for their direction in life. They might be strong names like Royal or Reign – the name chosen recently by Kourtney Kardashian for her newborn son. They might be virtuous names like Saint or Noble. They may even be so-called “bad-ass” names like Rogue or Rowdy.

But there is also a predicted growth in the trend of “cool kid” names like Buzz and Lazer. Yep, Buzz as in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. And Lazer, like the shiny red dot that your cat likes to chase around the house.

Growing trend – the trendy ending.

Parents are increasingly giving trendy endings to babies names – with ‘bella’ for girls and ‘ett’ for boys being the most popular. This means that traditional names like Isabella are being swamped with modern takes like Mirabella, Rosabella and Arabella. While the ever-fashionable Emmett for boys is joined by Beckett, Everett and Bennett.

Other trendy endings are ‘er’ for girls – Harper and Miller – and ‘s’ for boys – Silas and Atticus.

Reverse gender trend – the “was-a-boys-now-a-girls-soon-to-be-a-boys-again” name.

Did you get all of that? This is a trend that is seeing girls names reclaimed for boys – often they’re names that originated as boys names but have slowly transitioned to unisex or female names. This list includes the likes of Loren, Robin, Carey, Casey, Kelly, Lane, Sidney, Tatum, Rory and Rowan.

The trend that’s on the map – directional and place names.

Kimye may have officially started it, but this is one trend that doesn’t look like it’s going to back off anytime soon. This growing list of popular place and directionally-inspired names now includes the likes of Georgia, Tennessee and Carolina, as well as South, Frost and Snow. Month-inspired names, many of which are quite old-fashioned, are also trending again. So maybe you’ll have a baby August in June, or June in August?

Your child is more likely to be naughty if they have one of these names.

Vowel trend – an ‘O’ to remember me.

Another steadily growing trend is that of girls’ names that end in an ‘O’ sound, adding to the list of loved boys’ names like Theo, Leo and Milo. These newer names include Marlow, Margot, Harlow, Isabeau, Indigo, Shiloh and Willow.

Many celebs have already embraced this one – Actor Will Smith and popstar P!nk both have daughters named Willow, Brangelina have a daughter named Shiloh and Nicole Richie and Joel Madden’s daughter is named Harlow.

Consonant trend – an ‘X’ at the end, in the middle, or basically just anywhere.

We’re not quite sure what to make of this one yet. It is a trend that offers some interesting (and often memorable) choices along the lines of Fox, Hendrix, Knox and Beatrix. As well as Baxter, Huxley, Paxton, Maxine, Pixie and Roxana.

There’s also an increasing number of babies with traditional names where the ‘X’ sound has been replaced with the letter x – like Jax and Jaxen.

The short and sweet trend – names that are just that.

We really hope this one sticks. They’re names that are short, sweet and simple. And, more to the point, easy to remember and easy to spell – therefore they’re names that are sure to be popular with the little one’s teachers as well. For girls these include Isa, Eva, Ida, Lou and Lia, or Ben, Finn, Max, Leon and Tom for boys.

“Elsa! Stop fighting with Tyrion!” Frozen and GOT start baby name trend.

Tonal trend – colourful names.

The baby naming world looks a bit like an exploded rainbow at the moment. Adding to the list of traditional colour-inspired names like Violet, Scarlett and Blue (still not sure just how traditional this last one is), are names like Lavender, Lilac, Mauve, Azure, Mazarine, Crimson and Cerulean.

Trending alert – the newcomer.

For the first time ever the girls’ name Piper has made it into the top 100 names list. We’d like to think it’s due to the combined influence of Piper Kerman, the writer of Orange is the New Black and actress Piper Perabo – whose gold wedding dress earlier this year had us all in fits of jealousy.

The edible trend – names inspired by trend-as foods.

Kale. Need we say more? It’s a name that seems to have caught on almost as fast as it’s leafy-green namesake. And now there’s plenty more where that came from. Other healthy green-inspired names we can expect to see on the menu may include Lettice, Romaine and Cale.

The intercontinental trend – Scottish names.

They’ve always been a popular go-to choice, but now Scottish names are trending once more. But not just the “safe” names. We are talking boys’ names like Finlay, Angus, Ewan and Duncan. Together with girls’ names by the likes of Flora, Fenella, Greer, Elspeth and Isla.

The old-people trend – Hazel and Gus

They were the names of the two lead characters in John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars and now they’re both making a comeback in a big way: Hazel and Gus. Extra points go to Emily Blunt and John Krazinski who named their adorable new baby Hazel recently. Gus also looks to be a winner both as a stand-alone name or a short form of Angus.

FLUFF: First photos of Emily Blunt’s baby girl.

The try-hard trend – names that want to have it all. But can’t.

You know the ones we’re talking about – they’ve tried for so long to parade as unisex names but they somehow just keep defaulting back on one side or the other. Nonetheless, they’re still more popular than ever… Addison, Kendall, Bailey, Harper and Sloane for girls, and Cameron, Grayson, Jayce and Kellen for boys.

The “please don’t do this to your kids” trend – matchy-matchy sibling names.

The top twin names continue to be matching sets that just can’t be tolerated. No. They. Can. Not. Kudos to any children who have to go through life with a name that matches that of their brother or sisters – stay strong kid. The top pairs are Taylor and Tyler, Ella and Emma, Madison and Mason, and Jacob and Jayden. Oh, dear.

Flick through for a comprehensive list of the top trending girls’ and boys’ names for 2015…