Experts warn against violent baby name trend
Baby-naming experts are alarmed by a recent uptick in names related to weapons, such as Shooter and Caliber.
“There is a small but noticeable trend of parents using weapons-inspired ― and, more broadly, aggressive ― names for their sons,” Sophie Kihm, the editor-in-chief at the website Nameberry, told HuffPost in an interview. “Many of these names first appeared on the baby name charts in the 2000s, including Wesson, Caliber, Shooter, and Trigger.”
“Most of these names peaked in 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,” she added.
“It’s hard to say if these names have truly peaked in use or if some will go on to greater use, but I don’t think we’re past this trend yet!”
The names inspired by weapons also include a few brand names such as Remington and Winchester. Some of the names, according to the Social Security Administration, are other general violent terms such as Arson, Cutter, and Dagger.
There are various reasons why parents seem to be drawn to these more violent names including their relation to cowboy names, which Kihm said parents are leaning toward, and that many of these names also sound like surnames.
According to baby naming consultant Taylor A. Humphrey, parents are inspired by meaningful names within their family. As such, one popular trend she’s witnessed is parents giving their surnames as first names to their babies
“In many cases, these are familial names that are being used to honor a passed loved one,” she told The Independent in October 2024. “It’s a fun way to modernize the honor-name tradition. For example, if your beloved grandmother was named Ethel Taylor, but you fear Ethel being a little too outdated, you could choose the more modern, androgynous Taylor for your son or daughter.”
Humphrey also said that another 2025 baby-naming trend could be any name that a celebrity has used or names that were used in popular television shows in 2024.
For example, she said that while the name Jack was already on the Social Security Association’s recent ranking of popular boy names, she predicted its popularity to go up in 2025 after Hailey and Justin Bieber named their son Jack Blues Bieber.
Despite the trend in violence-related names, Kihm told HuffPost that this might be the one time she doesn’t support a specific trend.
“It’s rare for me to outright reject a name or name trend, but I cannot get behind weapon-inspired names,” Kihm said. “They glamorize violence and, particularly in the wake of so much violence in the U.S., feel out of touch. In name consulting, I’ve never encountered a parent who wants to use these names, but I would advise any client against it.”
