Fierce and Fabulous Feminist Names 💪
Cool names with inspiring namesakes – what’s not to love?
In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day this Tuesday, let’s take a deep dive into the best of feminist baby names!
Unique Names of Forgotten Feminists
There are many cool, unusual names among the most famous feminist icons 💜
We recently profiled some of our favorite quirky options on the Nameberry blog. They’re inspired by everything from feminist virtues (Liberty, Truly) to feminist symbols (Maccabee, Indigo) to popular feminist figures (Frida, Isadora, Angelou).
But there’s also a whole host of feminist heroes and heroines from around the world whose names are far less well known.
From Aoua (Keita – Malian midwife and trailblazing politician) to Vida (Goldstein – Australian campaigner and suffragist), find a selection of the most intriguing forgotten feminist names here.
Name of the Week: Lavender
I spotted one of my favorite Babyberry names of all time on our Instagram this week. Welcome, Lark Lavender! 🕊️
Purple is the symbolic color of feminism, making Lavender a beautiful subtle tribute to feminist icons past and present.
But purple is also an extremely stylish hue right now, in everything from fashion to home decor to… yep, baby names! Think cool-toned Violet, Lila and Indigo.
We recently tipped Lavender as one of the top names to watch in 2022, after Pantone announced “Very Peri” – a vibrant blueish purple – as its Color of the Year 2022.
And sure enough, it’s climbing fast on the Nameberry charts: currently #272 and rising.
Unisex Names Going (Back) to the Boys
One of the most pervasive examples of society’s unequal attitude toward the sexes is the trend for baby names to move only one way along the gender spectrum.
Dylan, Hunter or James for a girl? Cool, strong, edgy.
Emily, Claire or even Madison – originally a masculine name – for a boy? To borrow a phrase from Kasey Edwards, who wrote this wonderful piece on the subconscious bias of unisex name trends: Nuh-uh. No freaking way.
But there are a select few names swimming against the tide of boy to girl crossovers. We analyzed the US baby name data from the past two decades to uncover 40+ names which are going against the grain and moving further toward the boys’ side.
We also picked out 30 more gender-neutral or feminine-leaning names we think will be heading that way next. This must be my style, because both of my sons’ first names and one of their middles makes the list! ❤️
Just for Fun: Crazy Naming Laws
A challenge brought to you by Berry @Wandarine: invent a crazy new name law!
Some of our favorite suggestions so far…
People will be named normally at birth by their parents. However, every five years, starting on their tenth birthday, people will be expected to to add one name to or remove one name from their full name. – @almostactually
The number of letters in a child’s given name(s) – first and middle names combined – must be equal to the day of the month they were born on. So somebody born on March 1st only gets one letter but someone born on the 31st has a long, long name. – @EagleEyes
All siblings must have names that are anagrams of each other (e.g. Aidan, Diana, Nadia). – @ethelmary