We made waves recently by writing a piece for The Daily Beast about Hipster Names. Almost universally, the cry went up: Oh no! I’ve given my baby a hipster name! “I have a one-year-old named Matilda,” one mom wrote. “I hate you.”
Ooops, sorry. We love the name Matilda. Really! We’re just a little confused about why hipster has become such a dirty word.
Or not. I mean, we do get it, in a way. There’s something sneering, something dismissive about branding someone or something “hipster.” It connotes the feeling that someone (or something) is trying too hard to be cool, which of course is the definition of uncool.
On the other hand, what are you supposed to do: be deliberately uncool? Call your kid Jennifer, or Jean, or something that thumbs its nose at the entire planet of style?
Would not caring about style lead you to a transcendentally cool name? Or a thoroughly uncool one?
Insert deep sigh here.
The real question on many parents’ minds: How do you choose a name that’s genuinely stylish and interesting but that’s neither too hipsterish or too uncool?
Let’s play (and for you Message Board fans, this would make a great Name Game):
Hipster: OSCAR
Uncool: ORIN
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Too cool: EVA
Uncool: EILEEN
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Hipster: ATTICUS
Uncool: JULIUS
Sweet: CAIUS, HORATIO, TARQUIN?
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Uncool: APRIL
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Too cool: LENNON
Uncool: STARR
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When it comes to calling the sweet spot, we’re not always that sure of ourselves either — or in agreement. (After I posted this, Linda emailed me, Estelle? Really???) We’d love to hear your ideas on which names hit the sweet spot, and why.
Tags: "Cool Names", baby name sweet spot, cool baby names, coolest baby names, coolest names, hipster names, name style, uncool baby names, uncool names
This entry was posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 10:32 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, name games, name style . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 25th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I’m still trying to get my head around exactly what constitutes a “hipster” name. I’ll agree that there are some baby names that seem to be trying too hard. I recently met, on separate occasions, two little girls named Moira and Cecilia. While I adore both names, there was something unappealing about the way their mothers introduced them. The mother may have only said, “This is Cecilia,” but you could tell she was thinking, “Wasn’t I cool to pick such a stylish, original baby name?”
I’ll agree with you on Oscar and Atticus. But Estelle? Definitely more hipster (or possibly even uncool) than sweet. I love Julius — it sounds just right to me, but I’d imagine someone who didn’t like it would find it more hipster-pretentious than uncool. And Monday and Rock? Those are trying way too hard.
When it comes down to it, our impressions of style are intensely personal. I’m considering a couple of the no-no’s from your article. Miles is more Pilgrim than jazz great to me, so it seems like an underused historical gem. And I recently found out my great-grandmother (who I never met and had only heard referred to by her last name) was named Leta, so I’ve added that to my list as well.
You really can’t fault parents for wanting to find that one great undiscovered name that no one else is using but will still sound current and in-style, can you? I can’t.