One thing we learned when we wrote about hipster baby names is that nobody wants one.  Many people were horrified if they found their favorite names — or worse, their actual children’s names — on our list of hipster names.   No matter how much they’d loved the name before, they immediately went in search of something new, something different, something with a bit less of the whiff of hipsterdom about it.

Well, okay.  We can dig grok understand that.  It’s intrinsically uncool to be seen as trying hard to be cool, even if you’re doing so by deliberately being uncool.  Which, of course, is uncool.

We wrote about this before, in our exploration of names that hit the baby name sweet spot between too cool and not cool enough.

Today we look at how to downshift the hipster factor in some of the prime suspect names.  Making a name less hip might mean making it more classic or plainer, but it also might mean making it more unusual, less obviously stylish.  If you truly want to pull back from the edge of cool, consider making the following swaps.

Instead of Ada, try AIDEEN

Instead of Annabel, try ANNE

Instead of August, try GUSTAV

Instead of Butch, try BUDDY

Instead of Delilah, try SALOME

Instead of Edie, try EDITH

Instead of Hugo, try HUGH

Instead of Iris, try IRENE

Instead of June, try JANE

Instead of Kingston, try KINGSLEY

Instead of Lennon, try JOHN

Instead of Lulu, try LOUISE

Instead of Mae, try MARY

Instead of Miles, try BASIE  (I think Basie is probably pretty hipster too, but I just like it better)

Instead of Minnie, try MINETTE

Instead of Otis, try OMAR

Instead of Piper, try FIFER

Instead of Ray, try RALPH

Instead of Ruby, try RUTH

Instead of Talullah, try TABITHA

Instead of Theo, try TED

Any more bright ideas?  We know you have some…..

Ever notice how some stylish names are the new versions of other names that got too hot too fast?

Felix, for instance, is the new Oscar, one of those poor names that flamed out almost before anybody noticed it was heating up.  Parents who might have chosen Oscar a couple of years ago are now looking for something more surprising, more distinctive, something like….Felix.

Ironic, because Oscar itself was kind of the new Gus, which was the new Max, which was the new Sam, which took over for such earthy boys’ names as Joe and Jim and Tom.  Emilia is the new Emma, which took over for Emily.

Edison is the new Addison, which a couple of years ago was the new Madison.  And Madison was kind of the new Allison AND the new Madeline.

Arabella is the new Isabella, Ezra the new Elijah, Ada the new Ava.  Jaxon is the new Jackson, which took over for Jack, a substitute for both Jake and Johnny.

Some of the new versions have a long lineage: Kate is the fresher version of Katelyn, which was for quite a while the new Kathleen, which was the new Katherine, which at some point way back when was undoubtedly the new Kate.

It can even be hard to see the connection between the original name and its newer substitute: Helen lies deep within Haley, for example, and Lee in Liam, John in Jonah, Mary in Mariah.

Anybody else see new names rising from the ashes of older favorites?

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

Sweet: OZIAS, O’BRIEN, OMAR?

——————————————

Too cool: EVA

Uncool: EILEEN

Sweet: ESTELLE, EMER, EUDORA?

—————————————–

Hipster: ATTICUS

Uncool: JULIUS

Sweet: CAIUS, HORATIO, TARQUIN?

—————————————–

Hipster: JUNE, AUGUST

Uncool: APRIL

Sweet: MAY, MONDAY, EASTER?

—————————————–

Too cool: LENNON

Uncool: STARR

Sweet: GEORGE, PAUL, ROCK?

—————————————–

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.