What’s In A Name?
One of the toughest parts of having a baby (besides the actual birth and adjusting your whole life around this new tiny human) is choosing a name. Do you want it to be classic? Do you want it to have meaning? Maybe it’s a family name that you’ve always loved, or tribute to a loved one since passed on? No matter how you slice it, a name is certainly an important step in the baby process.
If you’re struggling to come up with names, here’s some resources for you to use when picking the perfect moniker for your upcoming bundle of joy:
Most Popular Baby Names of 2022- a list of the 10 most popular baby names from Names.org for boys and girls in all 50 states. You can choose a name that blends in with the crowd such as Liam or Charlotte, or use this list to make sure your kiddo stands out when their name is called!
Our Favorites From This List: Keep it classic with William and Charlotte, two well known literary names that have withstood the test of time.
Gender-Neutral Baby Names - This list from What To Expect gives some popular gender neutral baby names for those who want to avoid the binary!
Our Favorites From This List:
Anything you’d typically associate with one gender given to the other. Kyle, Logan, and Drew for girls. Ashley or Brooklyn for a boy. Get creative - gender is only a social construct after all! Break the societal rules!
Nature Inspired Baby Names - From Nameberry.com, a list of some names derived from nature and their meanings and definitions. For the outdoorsy parents who want their baby to embody their favorite place - nature!
Our Favorites From This List: We love to be among the trees! Names like Rowan, Hazel (Olde English derived from Hazelnut tree), Aspen, Juniper - the list goes on and on! Most trees are associated with specific properties throughout centuries of folk magic, lore, and religion. If you’re feeling drawn to the nature names, do some research around those with roots (no pun intended) in trees and see what speaks to you.
Sci-Fi Baby Names - From SheKnows.com, most of these sci-fi and fantasy inspired names are deep cuts for the movie, video game, and comic book buffs out there. These names span the multiverse if you’re looking to pay homage to some of your favorite characters!
Our Favorites From This List: Trekies always seem to have the best names, as well as one of the strongest fandoms! Names like Riker, Montgomery, Kira and Vala (technically that last one is Stargate SG-1 but was too pretty to leave off!) are sure to be unique while providing an easter egg for others in the fandom to find.
Names Inspired By Food - If you’ve got foodies in your family, a food inspired name may be the way to go. From the subtle (Berry/Barry) to the obvious (Saffron or Honey), a food-inspired name may just hit the spot! Leave it to Cosmopolitan.com to throw this word salad together!
Our Favorites From This List:
Roe, Pepper, and Quince. Three food items that really pack a punch of flavor as well as in the baby name category!
While these lists certainly get you started, we’d be remiss if we didn’t also include some names that are on their way out:
According to this list by The List.com, these 22 names are plummeting off the baby name charts. Previously super popular names such as Angela (1970’s) and Ashley (1980’s) are names new parents are leaning away from, in addition to some names that are associated with celebrities (Kobe or Miley) and even electronics (Alexa).
Lastly, names with unique spellings (Breighlynne, Jaxsyn, Maesyn) are starting to fall off the popularity charts. Throughout the early 2000’s through the 2010’s, these unique names were all the rage, giving us names with a soup of consonants and vowels in atypical places. This 2021 Census shows a downward trend in these types of names, with a similar projection of decrease in popularity for 2022 and onward.
Tell us about your baby names in the comments! What are some of the baby names you like? What are some unique names you’ve heard? What did you name your kids and why? Or what’s the story behind your own name? We’d love to know!
