The Jalen baby name boom has swept New York City.
Following the Knicks’ first championship in 53 years, New Yorkers have been inspired to name their newborns after one of the title team’s heroes, Jalen Brunson.
Data from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene showed that babies named Jalen had more than doubled between March and early October, according to The City Reporter. A total of 32 newborns dubbed Jalen were born in that period, up from 15 during the same span in 2025.
The uptick shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, with many expecting to see the name spike in popularity following the historic Knicks run, which ended a title drought and unified the city like never before.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene posted on social media on June 15 that, at that point, only five NYC babies had been named Jalen since March 1.
“We expect this number to change just in time for next year’s March Madness,” the department wrote in the X post.
Manhattanite Jeremy Werden posted a video on TikTok holding his newborn daughter in June, going through all the possible names for her.
“For starters, king of all names, Jalen or maybe Brunsina; Hart, as is near and dear; Kat, Anunoby, OG or Ogugua, actually. I don’t know, Ogugua has really been growing on me,” he joked to his wife, who filmed the dad.
The couple named the baby girl Vivian Rose, Werden told the New York Times.
In another social media post from July, Justin Wu made a video explaining how his son ended up with the name Jalen, which was given to him when he was born during the playoff run in May.
“The funny thing is, it was really Mommy’s idea,” he explained in the video. “A few years earlier, I had joked with friends that if he ever brought a championship to New York, I’d name my firstborn after him. I never brought it up to Mommy because I figured she’d think I was crazy. But Mommy became a fan, too, and the rest is history.”
The Knicks will celebrate their championship on Tuesday when they open their season against the 76ers at Madison Square Garden and raise their championship banner to the rafters.
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