“Mommy, if you named me after Grandma Jane, why did Grandma Jane name you Skyler?” “Well, sweets, a long time ago there was a television show called Breaking Bad on a channel known for its interesting dramas. It was about a daddy and a mommy who needed money to fund the daddy’s cancer treatments, so the daddy — unbeknownst to the mommy — started cooking and selling methamphetamine. The daddy’s methamphetamine was soooo yummy that everybody wanted it, and he was making a lot of money. Eventually the mommy found out about that the daddy was in the drug trade because the daddy had two cell phones — ah, well, you know — it’s kind of a long story, honey, but the mommy was named Skyler. Everyone on the Internet hated her because she was a strong woman who stood up for herself and for her family.” Scene. (People are naming their babies Skyler, and also names from Homeland and Game of Thrones, which sounds JUST like people.) From The Independent:

Breaking Bad and other hugely popular TV shows have inspired more baby names this year than the royal family, according to the latest lists released by website BabyCentre. …

Breaking Bad’s Skyler and Jesse increased in popularity by 70 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

From Homeland, the name Brody was up by 40 per cent and entered the top 100 for the first time (despite actually being the surname of the lead male character played by Damian Lewis). The names of the show’s female characters also shot up, with Carrie and Dana rising by 200 per cent and 66 per cent respectively.

The name Arya from Game of Thrones was a new entry to the top 100, up by 183 per cent, and the first baby Sansa was also registered with BabyCentre this year.

At the very least, they can all basically pass for real names. We at least did not see a 300% rise in the name “Draper” for both boys and girls. (“Her name is Draper Dawn Kenning, but we call her Dawn Draper. … Dooon’t we? Doooon’t we my sweetie widdle Dawn Draper?”) YOU’RE WELCOME, BABIES. YOU’RE BETTER OFF THAN SOME!