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'Game of Thrones' title 'Khaleesi' rises in popularity as baby name

According to the Social Security Administration, almost 150 babies were named Khaleesi in 2012.

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Keith Bernstein/HBO/AP
'Game of Thrones' stars Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, often called Khaleesi.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

Many “Game of Thrones” fans admire the character of Daenerys Targaryen, the daughter of a murdered king who is determined to return to her homeland and assume what she views as her rightful place on the throne.

And some parents admire her so much that they named their daughters after her.

According to information from the Social Security Administration, 146 babies were named Khaleesi in 2012. The name comes from the title assumed by Daenerys after she marries Khal Drogo, the leader of a tribe of the nomadic horseback riders known as Dothraki. 

Khaleesi isn’t the first “Thrones”-inspired baby name to become popular – as we previously mentioned, the website Nameberry reported in 2012 that the names Arya and Theon shot up in popularity. Arya, the name of a lord’s daughter who loves learning skills like archery and swordplay, became the site’s most popular girl’s name as of that July, while Theon, a character in “Thrones” who is torn between his birth and foster family, was at number eight on boys’ names at that point in time.

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