In 2017 you can safely walk up to a kid and ask if they have a friend names Aarav or Vivaan. And if you are adventurous try asking if there is a Saanvi or Aanya in their class. You can expect to find several of them playing in the park. How can I be so sure?According to the BabyCenter the ten most popular names for boys in 2013 in India were Aarav, Vivaan , Aditya, Vihaan, Arjun , Reyansh, Muhammad, Sai, Arnav and Ayaan. The ten most popular names for girls in 2013 are Saanvi, Aanya , Aadhya , Aaradhya, Ananya, Pari, Anika, Navya, Angel and Diya.They will all be playing in the park soon. Elementary dear Watson.Seven out of ten names for girls seem to follow a global trend of ending in the letter a, like Isabella. In US the first six of the ten most popular female names all ended with a: Sophia, Emma, Olivia, Isabella, Ava, Mia.In 2009 Isabella and Jacob were trending names in US. Maybe the Twilight book series had something to do with it. In the 2013 list Jacob is at number three and Isabella is at number four of the top ten. I can’t help wonder if people are naming kids after vampires.The authors of Freakonomics said that parents like to names that sound “successful”. When high-income, highly educated parents, choose names for their kids, they start to trickle down the socioeconomic ladder. “Amber, Heather, and Stephanie started out as high-end names. For every high-end baby given those names, however, another five lower-income girls received those names within 10 years.” They also add that the faster that a new baby name becomes popular, the faster it will die out.In India it is safe to assume that baby names will be influenced by Bollywood and cricket. But then none of the ten most popular baby names are the names of film actors or cricketers. Are these names of characters in popular films? Are they names of successful industrialists?What do you think is driving the choice of names in India?———See my related post “What’s In a Name”Join me on twitter @AbhijitBhaduri