Would you name your baby Parker or maybe Wade? Why not? Those are common enough names. What about Loki or Rocket? Those are far less common but, thanks to the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some parents are actually opting to name their kids after Marvel characters.

According to data recently released by The U.S. Social Security Administration, Marvel-related names skyrocketed in popularity in 2017. Not coincidentally, Marvel Studios released three movies, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok, last year. Not only that, but ever since Iron Man arrived in 2008 these characters have exploded in pop culture in general. And it's not just the MCU that brings Marvel to the masses. Fox has had a lot of success with the Deadpool and X-Men movies. Plus, in the years before Marvel Studios made their deal with Sony, there were the other Spider-Man movies pushing the popularity of those characters.

So it's not totally surprising that some of the names from the Marvel Universe would start making their way into the real world, but the breakdown of the names, in terms of popularity, carries with it some surprises. Parker, as in Peter Parker, as in the teenager played by Tom Holland in the MCU who is actually Spider-Man, is by far the most popular Marvel name. 1,487 females were named Parker in 2017 while 4,386 males were adorned with the title. Wade, as in Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool, was the second-most popular name for males, with 899 kids getting that name last year.

As far as the female names go, save for Parker, it's not too surprising to find out that Natasha was next on the list, with 355 parents choosing to name their daughters after Black Widow. Pepper was also quite popular, with 121 females getting the name of Tony Stark's main squeeze in 2017 Somewhat surprisingly, 7 males were also named Pepper last year. One of the weirdest reveals is that 21 females and 29 males were simply named Marvel last year.

While it may be shocking to find out that 37 kids were named Rocket in 2017, it's not super shocking that a brand so present in pop culture has had an effect on baby names. The MCU to date, including the massive haul from Avengers: Infinity War, has pulled in a staggering $16.7 billion at the box office overall. That kind of box office dominance is sure to have an impact. Now the big question; where are all of the kid's getting named Logan in the wake of Hugh Jackman's final go as Wolverine last year? You can check out the full breakdown of Marvel baby names, courtesy of Metro, for yourself below.

  • Marvel Baby Names Breakdown:
  • Parker: 1,487 female, 4,346 male
  • Wade, 899 male
  • Natasha, 355 female
  • Pepper, 121 female, 7 male
  • Loki, 5 female, 91 male
  • Valkyrie, 63 female
  • Marvel, 21 female, 29 male
  • Banner, 39 male
  • Rocket, 9 female, 28 male
  • Quill, 5 female, 15 male
  • Hawkeye, 6 male