So You Want A Name That’s Hipper Than Hipster?

Yeah, Outhip the Hipsters! How exciting to see this blog that I helped to inspire. And how cool that so many Nameberry posters added more and more names to the list. Of course I love a bunch of the names, especially Herman, Bernard, Bernice, and Lucille. Fun, fun, fun!

Ooooh, I do like some of those boys’ names — Alfred, Clement, and Clarence are already on my top ten.

Great blog! (And I agree that Susan is completely brilliant!) I love a lot of these names, such as:

Dorothy
Louise
Sally
Albert
Alfred
Conrad (LOVE Conrad!)
Opal
Calliope
Byron
Gatsby
Hawthorne

I can’t wait to see your next great idea, Susan!

It’s nice to know that if I name my kids after my grandfathers, I will be hip. I’m still not touching those names with a ten-foot pole. I do like Freya, Ramona, Ruth, Vance, Vaughan, Garnet, Lloyd (reminds me of Lloyd Dobler and his boom box from Say Anything), Roger (reminds me of the character from Rent), Nico (reminds me of the Velvet Underground, although the Nico that they worked with was a woman), Hale, and Zora.

So many of these names are a part of my family tree: Dorothy, Magdalene, Alfred, Earl, Claude–I even had an Aunt Claudie! I do think that many names that get labeled hipster are really just names of older family members. It makes sense that these names would come back around when younger generations want to honor their older relatives. I don’t think that every parent that might use one of these names (or names from the hipster list for that matter) is *trying* to be hip per se.

These names “feel” hipster to me:

Agatha
Calliope
Etta
Fern
Freya
Lucille
Opal
Ramona
Roxanne
Zora

Conrad
Cyrus
Enoch
Guthrie
Hector
Leon
Linus
Murray
Nico
Otto
Severin
Thor

Yet I really don’t feel that any on the list “are rising quickly through the hipster ranks and may soon be so hip they’re not hip anymore.”

In order to outhip the hipsters at this point, I think we need to predict whole new categories. Old-fogie-chic will only do it for so long.

I have to say, I’ve already met a few of these names in my neighborhood which means they are already on the rise. Here are the ones from her list that I’ve met:

Zelda
Mildred
Cyrus (more than one)
Claudine
Thor
Oswald

I predict these are all official hipster names soon. It’s hard to outhip the hipsters!

I think Agnes could be counted too … Aggie is so cute!

I really love :
Agatha
Dorothy (and Dorothea even more)
Lolita (but not the connection)
Maxine (I saw a film with an adorable little girl Max [and she managed to survive to the end - it was a horror film ...])
Roxanne is very spunky!
Wilhelmina for the nn Willa.

Otto
Ulysses.

That thread was so much fun–great to see it in the spotlight!

Great post, but just a warning that Freya is VERY VERY popular in the UK at the moment, and so I imagine it will become so in the US very soon. Ditto Albert and Alfred.

This is sort of random, but it seems like Nancy should be in there somewhere! I don’t see people talking about it here, but it does seem to me that it would appeal to the hipster set.

I’m horrified to see my favorite name of about ten years, Magdalene, on the rising list.

I also love:
Dorothy
Agatha
Etta
Lucille
Enoch
Lazarus… A great name!

Freya doesn’t have a hipster vibe at all to me but I guess being a top 30 name in England and Scotland doesn’t help at all. It feels so out of place there!

I would add Albie, Betty, Bertie, Polly and Bonny. Peony is right with Nancy too.

I’m kind of surprised to see my moms name on this list! (Jolanda, pronounced Yolanda) where we are from it’s considered “old”, a “mom name”.

ALFRED! <3 OSWALD! <3 VICTOR! <3

No Otis? D:

Almost all of the names that I have had on my list are on this one. Does that mean I’m already hipper than hip?

If my mom had her way, I would have been called Wilhelmina. All I can say is, that name is so not my style. I’m glad they went the way they did.

Fantastic blog!
I love these names, I’m into unusual vintage classics and I just discovered this is apparently ‘hip’ a lot of my favourites are on that list especially Leonard and Dorothy.

Thinking about this, I’m now a little annoyed. How come Leonard and Dorothy are hip? There just gorgeous names can’t they just be vintage why are they hip? After reading another blog based on how having ‘hip’ names isn’t cool I’m now thoroughly disappointed! I’m now whining but still….

OH. MY. WORD. When I was but a wee chitlin, I was given a mythology book by dear old dad. There, I relished in the (not-taught-in-schools) Norse mythology section, and absolutely FELL for Freja (here, Freya). TOP 30 IN THE UK????? YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! WHY???? What’s the UK got to do with…ugh. It’s an unheard of name here in the states (speaking for the midwest and west coast). Unbelievable. But, it’s a pretty name with a great history so go figure. Self, stop being so possessive!

[...] and some of them are daring to resuscitate names long lost.  Sure enough, there’s Beulah on Nameberry’s Hipper Than Hipster list.  If Opal, Peggy, Fern, and Luella can make a comeback, surely Beulah can, [...]

Oh goodness! This is just about my whole list! Agatha and Ramona are my all time faves

You all should re-do/update this list soon! It’s been 2 years and I know some hipster kids with a few of these names. An update would be interesting and fun!

I’m thinking Blythe should be on this list!

I need more names! LOVE THIS! ♡

I have an Arlo and a Zelda, ages 11 and 6

Oh, I love this!

Some of my favorites, all of which are on my name list already:
Ramona
Louise
Ruth
Alfred
Conrad
Opal
Etta
Hawthorne
Lyle
Rhett

Great blog!