Barbie & Ken Baby Name Searches Skyrocket Thanks To Their Big Screen Appeal

"Barbie" may well end up being the biggest movie of 2023 when all is said and done — and down the line, its influence could continue when it comes to the next generation's names.

People exclusively reported that Nameberry, a baby name website, has been tracking trends since Greta Gerwig's movie came out... and it revealed that Barbie and Ken are both proving to be hugely popular baby names. Incredibly, it goes beyond the movie's July 21 premiere; according to People, searches for the name Barbie spiked 603% since the movie's trailer came out in April of this year, which is pretty impressive. As for Ken, he's trailing behind — classic Ken — but searches for the name have still gone up by 293%.

"Barbie and Ken are piquing parents' interest, but this doesn't mean that will translate into actual usage. As of now, Barbie is a predominant Amish name," Nameberry's editor-in-chief Sophie Kihm said to People. She said that, despite the searches, there won't be a million Barbies and Kens in the incoming college classes of 2014: "Barbie and Ken are both dated names that aren't due to comeback yet, so while there may be a slight bump from the movie, neither will be among the most popular baby names of 2023."

Barbie and Ken have been an automatic couple since the dolls came into being in the mid-20th century — and in Gerwig's film, Margot Robbie's Stereotypical Barbie and Ryan Gosling's Ken are, as they both acknowledge, "boyfriend-girlfriend." (Barbie later becomes Ken's "long-term long-distance low-commitment casual girlfriend" after he overtakes Barbie Land and turns it into his Kendom, but that's a separate issue.) If you know the history of the Barbie and Ken dolls, you might know just how strange this is... but if you have a boy and a girl any time soon and decide to name them "Barbie" and "Ken," you'd actually be following in the footsteps of Ruth Handler, Barbie's original creator.

Handler — played in a spectral form in Gerwig's movie by Rhea Perlman — had two children, Barbara and Kenneth Handler, and she named the two main dolls after them. (Allan, played by Michael Cera, also had a Handler family namesake; Barbara's husband was named Allan.) Naturally, this makes Barbie and Ken's "boyfriend-girlfriend" relationship odd in any form... but considering that neither of them knows what people in romantic relationships actually do together, the whole thing is still tame enough that it doesn't become a full-on "Game of Thrones" situation.

Whether or not there are actually a ton of kids in a decade or two all named Barbie and Ken, you truly can't deny the impact the movie has had on the culture at large — even before it hit theaters. "Barbie" has been buzzy since its first teaser and full trailer were released earlier in the year, and right up until the movie's stars joined the WGA in the ongoing double strike between the writer's guild and SAG-AFTRA, the marketing and press campaigns were nothing short of spectacular. Ryan Gosling went into full Ken mode, Mattel built a replica of Barbie's dream house that was available to rent on AirBnB, and the Barbie brand joined up with brands like Gap and Kitsch for partnerships. Beyond the capitalism of it all, though, "Barbie" is just... a really good movie.

Critics and audiences are clearly fans. "Barbie" is the highest-grossing film directed by a female director, handily crossed a billion dollars at the box office, and reviews have remained solid since its release. Gerwig is an audacious, careful, detail-oriented director, and her script, penned alongside Noah Baumbach, is as sharp as it is heartfelt — and ultimately brought to life by standout performances by Gosling, Robbie, America Ferrera, and so many others. "Barbie" is a cultural juggernaut... and down the line, incoming classes could prove that just with their names.