Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock
Topics: Life, Parenting, TikTok, Social Media
Bec Oakes
As a new parent, choosing the perfect name for your bundle of joy is no mean feat.
After all, no kid wants to grow up knowing they were named after a TikTok trend. At the same time, being one of five Rebeccas in your class at school can be just as frustrating. Trust me, I know!
Now, the latest baby name trend to hit social media has left people divided.
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According to baby name experts, parents are exploring using surnames as first names at a growing rate.
But this isn't an entirely new phenomenon.
Laura Wattenberg, founder of Namerology, explained to Today: "Many surnames are so well established in our first-name culture that we don’t even think of them as surnames at all. You can find examples across the generations."
For example, Milton and Irving were both popular names in the 1910s, while Glenn, Stewart, and Wayne all trended in the 1950s. And, in the 1990s, there were plenty of baby Courtneys, Taylors, and Kelseys crawling around living rooms across the US.
Wattenberg shared some common surnames being used as surnames today, including Cash, Davis, Everly, Quinn, and Wells, and shared her predictions for names we can expect to see in the future.
"I expect to see parents start to explore names with a more gentlemanly throwback style, like Montgomery, Shepard and Jennings. Also look for more curt one-syllable names like Locke, Holt and Penn."
She continued: "Some of the hottest rising surname styles today are surnames ending in 'S' like Collins, Brooks, and Hayes. Also, names ending in unusual letters like 'W,' as in Harlow and Winslow, or 'X' such as, Lennox and Knox."
But it's left the internet divided.
In the comments below a TikTok video on the topic, users shared the surnames-as-first-names they've used or want to use for their future children.
One person wrote: "Mercer is my maiden name and we plan to use it for a boy or girl!"
Another said: "My son is Smith Everett and we call him Smitty. I love his name so much, it fits him perfectly."
And a third commented: "I know young girls named Wallace, Turner, and Collins. They're all such cute names."
But Reddit users are less convinced by the trend.
One said: "I am actually not a fan of this trend. I’ve seen some interesting ones lately though."
And another typed: "I’m really not a fan. I ESPECIALLY can’t stand Baker as a first name."
Sorry to any Bakers out there, I guess...