Hipster Baby Names Are So Uncool, They’re Cool

Hipster baby names are an ever-moving class. Once a name becomes widely used enough to be pegged a hipster baby name, like many of the choices featured here, it may be too popular to make any true hipster’s baby name list. Former hipster favorites such as Anais and Arlo, Clementine and Caspian, Mavis and Magnus have all become — gasp! — mainstream baby names.

The category itself is a paradox, and yet there are identifiable qualities to hipster names. They’re edgy and cool in the ironic can-you-believe-that-baby’s-named-Gladys/Mars/Thoreau way. One of the hallmarks of hipster baby names is that they elicit a strong reaction (sometimes astonishment) — and if you balk, you’ll be told you “just don’t get it.”

So when is a baby name hip and when is it just unusual or clunky or antiquated? Let’s look at some specific groups of hipster baby names and specific names that qualify now:

Vintage Hipster Names

Vintage names and hipster baby names often meet in the middle…but not always. Hipsters tend to be the first to revive old favorites — although these names often still have a layer of dust on them. The choices below are starting to clean up.

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International Hipster Names

International names can qualify as hipster if they’re not trying too hard to be cute and especially if they’re from an underserved baby name culture like, say, Portuguese or Welsh or Sanskrit.

Girls

Boys

Hipster Nature Names

Nature names are a delicate thing when it comes to hipsters. You can’t use the obvious nature names like Iris and Bear and Sky. So you have to look further afield — maybe to Field itself.

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Boys

Geek Chic Names

The appeal of geek-chic hipster names lies in the fact that they are so far out of fashion. Unlike your run-of-the-mill vintage hipster names, which could see a quick comeback in a decade or sooner, the geeky names have generations to go before they are once again — if ever again — in style.

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Hipster Hero Names

Real and fictional hip heroes may inspire hipster baby names and namers. Particularly noteworthy are distinctive author names, such as Zadie and Kerouac, jazzy hero names including Mingus and Holiday, and those of plucky children’s book characters, like Pippi and Wilbur.

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Hipster Nickname Names

It can be difficult for a hipster to resist a quirky diminutive, especially if it’s going on the birth certificate in place of something more formal. These spunky nicknames are practically guaranteed to elicit questions from grandparents and strangers alike — “is that short for anything?” Nope, it’s just Bee. A hipster dream.

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Sophie Kihm

Sophie Kihm has been writing for Nameberry since 2015. She has contributed stories on the top 2020s names, Gen Z names, and cottagecore baby names. Sophie is Nameberry’s resident Name Guru to the Stars, where she suggests names for celebrity babies. She also manages the Nameberry Instagram and Pinterest.

Sophie Kihm's articles on names have run on People, Today, The Huffington Post, and more. She has been quoted as a name expert by The Washington Post, People, The Huffington Post, and more. You can follow her personally on Instagram or Pinterest, or contact her at sophie@nameberry.com. Sophie lives in Chicago.

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