More Than 10,000 Kids Are Named After Kobe Bryant

Are You My Daddy?

Interesting statistic from the Riverside Pres-Enterprise: There are more than 10,000 children in the U.S. named Kobe, and while the popularity of naming your kid after the Lakers’ star has waxed and waned over the past 10 years, it’s currently on the rise. Kobe was the 403rd most popular name for a baby boy in 2008, up from No. 472 the year before and a low of No. 544 in 2005, the year after sexual assault charges against him were dropped by Colorado prosecutors.

The more than 10,000 American families who named a son or daughter Kobe in the past 13 years represent a diverse ethnic and geographic background. There’s a hoops-crazed pastor in Orlando, an aspiring rapper in Pittsburgh, a women’s basketball star turned elementary school principal in Georgia and two pro beach volleyball players in Santa Barbara. Their admiration for Bryant is the common thread tying them together.

Of course, epicenter of the trend is the Los Angeles area, where the influence of the Lakers is greatest. In one Highland neighborhood alone, two 8-year-olds are both named after Bryant, as are two boys in the same first-grade class at Riverside’s Collett Elementary School.