Let Us Name Your Baby
Danielle wants to name her June-born baby June, but not because it's her birth month. Is she setting herself and her daughter in for a lifetime of judgment? We tackle this baby name dilemma with help from a Berry with personal experience and baby name consultant Colleen Slagen, founder of Naming Bebe and content creator.
Danielle writes:
I’m due in June, and want to name the baby (if it’s a girl) June!
June is such a special month for my husband and me — it holds so much history and meaning for both of us. I’m worried people will roll their eyes or find it uncreative. I don’t want people to think we only named her June because it’s her birth month. But obviously, we can’t explain the real meaning behind it to every single person our child meets over their life, nor can she!
I hope I’m just overthinking this. Is it weirder to name a baby after their birth month or to give them a seasonally incongruent name? June may still be on the table for a future daughter if this baby turns out to be a boy. I don’t want her to be burdened by this, no matter which month she’s born!
Baby Name Consultant Colleen Slagen responds:
I hear this question a lot! Is it cliche to name a child June if they’re born in June? Or is it illogical to name a child June if they’re born in May or January?
Regardless of when she was born, a June (or any child who shares their name with a month) is going to run into people who can’t help but ask “Oh, were you born in June?” in the same way that other common names might get benign questions (Eloise…were you named after the book character? Hudson…like the river?) It’s just that…a benign question based on a well-known association.
While I do think I would prefer that my child were born in a different month if I were naming her June, that wouldn’t stop me from using the name. Because June is a mainstream name again, I don’t think the association with the month will be as top-of-mind compared to a name like January or November, which are both quite unique.
At the end of the day, I think your specific concern about whether people are going to find this cheesy is going to be a rare occurrence. There are so many things we worry about with names that will rarely come up after the birth announcement. If we can think beyond the birth announcement, when we anticipate potential judgment or criticism, a lot of these micro-anxieties about names disappear.
Perhaps once a year, on her birthday, more people make the connection. To me, the month of June carries very positive associations. Bright, warm, happy. Not to mention the meaning it holds for you and your husband. I would lean into that and celebrate everything about the name — and the month!
Nameberry Editor-in-Chief Sophie Kihm says:
You should name your daughter June. But you don’t need me to tell you that! Instead, I want to help manage your expectations and prepare you to introduce your daughter with confidence.
First, know that you are not alone in worrying about the baby name/birth month alignment. I also encounter this question frequently — a friend of mine recently questioned whether to name her son Leo when it seemed like that would be his astrological sign (she ultimately went through with it, on my recommendation). Incongruently, I’ve known people named Mae born in June, Summer born in winter, and September born in February (can you imagine the remarks she has to deal with?)
This is the paradox of seasonal names — whether or not they align with your child’s birth month, the questions and comments will come. But as Colleen mentioned, June is very familiar as a name historically and widely used as a baby name today, so you’re less likely to hear from the peanut gallery than, say, September.
I spoke to a friend of Nameberry, writer Danielle Roderick, about her experience as the mother of a ten-year-old August, born in August. She shed some light on what you can expect as the parent of a child with a month name that aligns with their birthday.
Prepare for questions
People comment on his name every time. When I introduce my son, the number one thing people ask is, “Was he born in August?” It’s always adults asking, not other kids. They’re trying to connect in some way.
The expectation is that the name and birth month align
Many people assume I named him August because he was born in August, which isn’t what happened for us. In some ways, it feels more legitimate because his name and birth month do line up, but it’s uninteresting to think that I named him August because that’s the month he was born.
The alignment can work in your favor
The comments would probably be more annoying if he wasn’t born in August, because I feel like I’d have to explain to people why we named him that. It’s super intimate to tell people why you gave your kid their name. It’s nice to be let off the hook with a really brief answer.
The personal reasons make the name
It feels good to have other reasons for choosing the name than the month he was born. If we named him August just because it was his birth month, I assume that I wouldn’t be as confident about the name later. Strangers are never going to be interested in your personal reasons for choosing a name. But that’s okay, it gets to be your own secret, meaningful thing.
You won’t regret it
Even ten years later, I still really like the name August. If you want to give your kid a month name and it lines up with their birthday, go for it!
You have at least six more months ahead of you to workshop your answer to, “Did you name her June because she was born in June?”, whether you follow Danielle’s advice and just say, “Yep!” and move on, or go with some form of, “It’s a coincidence!”
But the more important thing to work on is your confidence. If you’re secure in your reasons for choosing the name June, then what other people may or may not think ultimately doesn’t matter.
Write down all the reasons you love the name June someplace easily accessible — in your Notes app, a Post-it on the fridge, your child’s baby book — and refer back to it any time you’re feeling insecure. When your daughter is old enough, you’ll share these reasons with her, and she’ll learn to wear her name with that same confidence with which you chose it.
For an extra bit of reassurance, I'll leave you with a quote from the 1924 Irish play Juno and the Paycock, by Sean O'Casey:
Bentham: Juno! What an interesting name! It reminds one of Homer’s glorious story of ancient gods and heroes.
Boyle: Yis, doesn’t it? You see, Juno was born an’ christened in June; I met her in June; we were married in June, an’ Johnny was born in June, so wan day I says to her, ‘You should ha’ been called Juno,’ an’ the name stuck to her ever since.
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