By: Lacey Moler

You might think that we have seen it all – last year brought a lot of outrageous baby names. We have only seen the tip of the iceberg though and 2013 will indeed be a milestone year for names. As parents strive for that distinctive name, we are seeing some pretty shocking trends at Belly Ballot. Based on naming data from over 10,000 parents on our site, we have the following predictions for the new year:

1) Tech Inspired Names – One the heels of baby Hashtag, we expect people to continue this trend with more technology inspired names. Think Tweet, Android, and Kindle. We are a technology crazed world and people are carrying this trend over into the most intimate aspects of their lives, including naming their babies. Here comes little iMac.

2) Multiple Names – As the pressure mounts in baby naming, parents are trying to create that one unique name and they are finding themselves having a hard time choosing just one. So why not pick two, or three names. Or like Uma Thurman, five! She recently announced her baby girl’s name, Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson. Parents are no longer limiting themselves to a first and middle name, but adding as many names as they like. They might want to save a couple for their next children.

3) Old is New – Everything goes full circle, including baby names. Our grandparent’s, and great-grandparent’s names are making a strong comeback. Drew Barrymore followed this trend recently naming her daughter Olive. We will continue to see old-fashioned names including Pearl, Florence, Nellie, Eleanor, Roy, Charles, Frank, and Albert. Baby Bertha is just so cute, right?

4) Surnames for First Names – While this is not an entirely new trend, we are now seeing parents push past the names that could easily be a first or last name, like Grant or Kennedy. All bets are off and any surname now goes, think Hayes, Townes, Brick, Drake, Fletcher, Sutton, and Copeland. One can only wonder what we will see next – maybe Bush or Hathaway.

5) Crazy Spellings – Although parents still like traditional names, they are shying away from the original spellings and creating a whole new name for their baby. Jaxon and Jaxen have become very popular. Other examples include Avah, Xakery, Josilyn, and Braedyn. The possibilities are endless. And quite scary.

Do you have any 2013 predictions? Please share them with me!

Lacey Moler is the Co-Founder of Belly Ballot, a new social startup that allows parents to choose their favorite names and invite friends and family to vote via Facebook and Twitter. Launched in July of 2012, Belly Ballot draws thousands of expecting parents every month who search for the perfect name and share their choices with friends online. Lacey is a mom of three and former private equity analyst. Follow her on Twitter at @bellyballot or http://babynames.net