Over the past two decades, Brooklyn as a name for girls has surged from No. 912 to the top 30 in each of the last three years, according to The Associated Press.
Some credit soccer star David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, for naming their son Brooklyn, while others cite model and actress Brooklyn Decker, the AP reported. Others point to "Girls" and the many other TV shows and movies that tap into the borough's gritty, cool vibe.
Of the 41 states where Brooklyn is now the most popular girl's name beginning with B, New York is not among them, according to the AP. Real Brooklynites say naming your child Brooklyn is strictly for out-of towners.
"It's almost like a magical place far away that doesn't exist to them," says parent Heath Farnsworth-Williams, the AP reported. "For us, Brooklyn is home, and we'd have a hard time trying to make the identity of our home coexist with the identity of our child."
More than 6,600 girls born in the U.S. in 2013 were named Brooklyn, making it the 28th most popular girls name ahead of stalwarts Samantha, Allison and Sarah, according to recently released Social Security Administration data, according to the AP.
Brooklyn beat out such place names as Savannah (No. 37) and London (No. 85), but trailed Madison (No. 9) and Charlotte (No. 11), the AP reported. Brooklyn as a boy's name is still rare, having never cracked the top 1,000.
Brooklyn Presta says her parents in Kansas were thinking unique, not New York, when they named her, according to the AP. Now 26 and living in Brooklyn, Presta says she often gets questions about whether she changed her name to fit her chosen borough.
"It's kind of crazy to be Brooklyn in Brooklyn," Presta says, the AP reported.
