Thousands of parents have started naming their kids after Pokemon

It's happening. It's really happening.

Given Pokemon Go's unrelenting quest for total world domination, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that new parents are so caught up in the game that they're naming their children after Pokemon characters. According to US parenting website BabyCenter, there has been a noticeable spike in a variety of names than can surely only have been inspired by the Japanese franchise. The site says that half of its users are playing the smartphone game, and although we still appear to be waiting to welcome a Blastoise, Tentacruel or Machamp into the world, there are certain Pokemon names that are enjoying a real surge in popularity.

Kicking off, there are 1,361 more baby girls being named Eevee this year than there were in 2015.

 

Even more impressive/ridiculous is that the name Onix has climbed by 4,377 in 2016.

Also up is Ash, because every parent wants their child to be the very best like no one ever was.

The name Jynx has absolutely shot up in 2016. We wonder why.

https://twitter.com/RegaliasForest/status/758176370849619968

The girl's name Mew has also cropped up 8,809 times this year, up nearly 6,000 from last. It seems the human Mew is a lot easier to come by than the illusive Pokemon version.

https://twitter.com/ChaseEvery/status/758487102531174400

And as for Pikachu - some might say the most iconic Pokemon and therefore a bold name to bestow upon your newborn - we couldn't find any data on BabyCenter's website, but the name exists in the search engine. It's only a matter of time...

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