When Calderwood mum Abby Matrai was choosing a name for her newborn son, she wanted it to be unique and fitting for his remarkable start to life.
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Little Koah, now five months old, was born feet first in the front seat of Ms Matrai's car, outside the front door of Wollongong Hospital.
With a breech baby throughout her pregnancy, she had been booked in for a c-section the following week, but went into labour - which lasted just 35 minutes - on August 24.
After she and her partner Travis rushed to hospital, they arrived at the Loftus Street entrance with one of Koah's already on the way.
"There was a foot already out at hospital doors, and it was a first for everyone because they don't deliver breech babies naturally at Wollongong," she said.
"Surprisingly, everything was fine - he was so healthy, he came out with his arms up, and I was fine too although I was in a lot of shock."
Koah, who has three older siblings - Hudson, 5, Everleigh, 3 and Carson, 2 - spent three days nameless as his parents tried to find something to suit him.
"I don't know how I came up with Koah - we had been scrolling baby names for months - but it just seemed like it suited him," Ms Matrai said.
"And then we found out that the meaning behind it was 'warrior' so it was perfect."
Ms Matrai said she had been on the hunt for an uncommon name - which is an increasing trend among parents across Australia and in the Illawarra.
"I want the kids to have a name that's unique and for themselves," she said.
"I want them to know that their name is theirs and something they can grow into."
The push towards diverse names has been happening over a long period of time, with the most popular names now much less concentrated than in generations past.
However, there's still a clear trend towards certain names each year.
As he grows up, little Koah may not encounter many other kids with his name - but there will be some that sound similar: in 2023, the top boys name in the Illawarra was the rhyming Noah, which has been in the state's top 10 for the past 14 years and took out first place in NSW in 2022.
In the Illawarra, the most popular boys name was followed by Leo and Luca in second and third place, and Oliver and Finn in equal fourth.
For girls, 15 names shared the top four places for Illawarra baby names in 2023, with Mia, Matilda, Isla and Amelia jointly taking out first place.
Mila, Chloe and Daisy came in second, while Olivia, Ivy, Florence and Aria were equal third.
First time mum Cherise Doyle knew when she was pregnant that she didn't want one of these more common names for her baby, and happened across inspiration while she was camping at Sussex Inlet for her son's unusual name.
"We were down the coast for a friend's birthday and I heard a mum yell out to her son and his name was Lux, and I just fell in love with that name," she said.
"When then just added on to it, to make it a bit of a bigger name, but we call him Lux for short."
She hopes four-month-old Luxxen's unique name will help him stand out in life.
"We're a bit outside the box and we wanted him to be like that too," Ms Doyle said.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
