Baby name experts have been alarmed by the recent surge in weapon-related names, such as Shooter and Caliber.
“There is a small but significant trend of parents naming their sons with weapon-inspired — and more broadly, aggressive — names,” said Sophie Kihm, editor-in-chief of the website Nameberry. HuffPost in an interview. “Many of these names first appeared on baby name charts in the 2000s, including Wesson, Caliber, Shooter, and Trigger.”
“Most of these names came into use relatively recently – Wesson in 2021 when it was used 306 times, Caliber in 2018 with 24 uses, Mace in 2022 with 64 uses, Dagger in 2022 with 13 uses, He added.
“It’s hard to say if these names have truly caught on or if some will be overused, but I don’t think we’re past that trend yet!”
Weapon-inspired names also include some brand names such as Remington and Winchester. According to the Social Security Administration, some of the names are other common violent terms such as arson, cutter and digger.
There are a variety of reasons why parents gravitate toward these more violent names, including their association with cowboy names, which Kihm said parents lean toward, and that among them Many names also sound like surnames.
According to baby naming consultant Taylor A. Humphrey, parents are inspired by names that have meaning in their family. Thus, a popular trend he has observed is parents giving their children their surname as a first name.
“In many cases, these are family names used to honor a recognized loved one.” He told free In October 2024. “It’s a fun way to modernize the honorific naming tradition. For example, if your beloved grandmother’s name was Ethel Taylor, but you’re worried that Ethel is a little old, you can choose a name for your son or daughter. The more sophisticated, androgynous Taylor may choose.
Humphrey also said that another baby naming trend in 2025 could be any name used by a celebrity or names used in popular television shows in 2024.
For example, he said that while the name Jack was already on the Social Security Association’s most recent ranking of popular boys’ names, he predicted that it would rise in popularity in 2025, behind Hailey and Justin Bieber. will go Named his son Jack Blues Bieber.
Despite the trend of violence-related names, Kihm said HuffPost That it can happen once she doesn’t support a certain trend.
“It’s rare for me to reject a name or a name trend outright, but I can’t get behind names inspired by weapons,” Kihm said. “They glamorize violence and are out of touch, especially in the context of so much violence in America. In name consultations, I’ve never encountered a parent who wanted to use those names. But I would advise any client against it.