28 Names You Should Think Twice About Using 😈
America's most notorious names, plus weird celebrity dog names and names of early African Americans
I have a confession to make. I love the name Lester. 🙈
I know, I know. How could you do that to a child? The potential for teasing is just too strong with Lester.
Onto the list of pet names it goes.
This week on the blog, we’re profiling 28 names that require a gut check before going on the birth certificate.
Unlike Lester, which sounds too much like an unsavory word, these names are connected to notorious figures of myth and history — think Attila, Manson, and Lucifer. (You may have heard that last one’s on the rise).
We’ve ranked these names in order from least to most taboo — all the way from the ever-so-slightly naughty Delilah to never-in-a-million-years Adolf. ⛔️
Weird Celebrity Dog Names
(Check your answers on our Instagram!)
You may think celebrity baby names were weird, but celebrity dog names are even weirder. Yes, Cardi B named her daughter Kulture, but she calls her dog Walk (that seems confusing).
Other notable celeb dogs include Zendaya’s dog Noon, Paris Hilton’s Harajuku Bitch, and Megan Thee Stallion’s 4oe (pronounced as “foe,” for the uninitiated).
Personally, I’m partial to food names, like Jonah Hill’s Fig or Lizzo’s Poké.
Early African American Names
In honor of Black History Month, we’re looking at early African American names from Colonial America. There is some data on names that were used, and unsurprisingly, a large proportion of enslaved people had names with African origins.
The West African tradition of day naming — naming a child for the day of the week they were born — gave way to names such as Quasheba (“born on Sunday”) and Quaco (“born on Wednesday”).
Place names and word names were also significant, and while not all are appropriate for a baby born today, some would easily fit in among peers. Chance, Major, and Queen are already Top 1000 choices, while Starry, Fortune, and Barbary are practically one-of-a-kind, but just as usable.
These naming traditions can also be reinterpreted for modern babies. One of my favorite celebrity baby names of the year so far is Grace Ethiopia, daughter of chef Marcus Samuelsson and his wife Maya Haile, both of whom have Ethiopian heritage.
More fun things
Is this the perfect full name for Kai?
The top nature names, ranked! 🌿
The boy name that’s on every cool parent’s lips
New international name statistics are coming in! See the most popular names of 2021 in Sweden, Portugal, and New Zealand 🌏