(NEXSTAR) – Picking out a unique baby name for your soon-to-be-born bundle of joy is difficult enough, especially if you’re not a fan of the most popular baby-naming trends of the moment.
But whatever you do, maybe think twice about naming your kid after a character from a hit TV series.
“It’s not the worst thing ever. But take into consideration who you’re naming [the child] after,” Jessie Paquette, the baby-naming consultant behind @DreamBabyNames, told Nexstar.
Specifically, Paquette worried that names inspired by certain popular characters — e.g., characters with questionable morals or little integrity, or characters who become victimized during the course of the show — will age poorly.
“Are you naming your baby after someone who did something terrible on a show? Or [that] something terrible happened to?” Paquette said. “I would advise against it, but only if asked.”
Colleen Slagen, the consultant who runs NamingBebe.com, said she only ever steered a client away from a specific name once.
“’Cersei.’ I gave my honest advice, and said don’t do it,” Slagen said of the name, which was inspired by an antagonist from HBO's "Game of Thrones," which was adapted from George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Fire and Ice."
“I never heard back, so I assume they didn’t use that name,” Slagen said. “They thought it was pretty, but everyone already has an association.”
Aside from names inspired by ethically-challenged characters, the experts also advise against any names that are a bit too trendy, lest they lose their appeal in coming years.
“I steer people away from trendy,” said Slagen, who directs her clients to the Social Security Administration’s annual rankings of the top-used baby names in the country. “Any name that jumps over 100 spots a year in popularity … in my mind, that’s the sign of a name that’s going to go out of fashion.”
As an example, Slagen pointed to “Everly” and “Everleigh,” two names which exploded in popularity around 2012-2013. (The former spelling, “Everly,” jumped over 500 spots to become the 379th most-used name for females in 2013. In 2023, it was 69th.)
“And spelling it differently, it doesn’t necessarily make it unique. Just more confusing,” she said.
Paquette would add names like “Renly, Lakelynn and Icelyn” to that list, calling them “fast-fashion.” (Of the three, only Lakelynn ranks within the top 1,000 tracked by the Social Security Administration, though it — and similarly spelled variations — are rising the ranks fast, according to 2022-2023 data.)
But it’s not just the consultants who might be averse to more popular baby names. Both Slagen and Paquette have had clients who contacted them for help re-naming a child that had already been born.
“I was shocked,” Slagen said. “It’s eating at these people. There’s a ton of reasons that this happens, but they’re all kind of different. Up to a year [after the child was born], I’ve done.”
Paquette, at times, has even given precedence to parents who come to her with this particular problem.
“A living child, who has a name you hate? Let’s figure it out,” she said.
Both consultants, however, stressed that they rarely (if ever) steer their clients away from a name they have their heart set on — unless they’re asked outright.
“People come to me and say, ‘Give it to me straight. Is this name too popular?’ Paquette said. “And then I might say, ‘Yes girl. If I see another one, I’m going to scream.’”
