“What’s in a name?” wrote William Shakespeare at the end of the 16th century in the play Romeo and Juliet.
Four hundred years later, the answer to that question is A LOT.
Modern-day parents obsess over their child’s name more thanprevious generations, according to baby-naming consultant Sonya Prior, AKA TikTok’s BBNamer.
“I think people now are looking at it as more of a reflection or almost like bestowing a really special name on to their child.”
“I do think there’s so much noise, and I am obviously part of that outside noise, but there comes a lot of pressure from naming a kid as well,” Prior said.
And the fact that there is such a profession as a baby naming consultant, a speciality that is on the rise in the US and UK, is more evidence of the fraught experience some parents have with landing on a name.
Prior grew up as one of six and her name seemed to fall through the cracks in a big family.
“We were the random ones who didn’t have a name on a coffee cup, which was me growing [up], and I was like, ‘I just want to be called a normal name’,” she said, pointing to a rotation of typical names during her childhood like Sarah or Susan.
Prior has long had a fixation with names. As a child, she would create new colour names for her Crayola crayons. She still has a copy of a baby name book she got when she was 12.
For years, she worked in brand strategy and fashion, including naming collections and fashion items. In 2023, she started using that passion and skills as a baby-naming consultant.
Close to 20,000 follow her sharp commentary on TikTok, which includes discussions on names from Game of Thrones characters to characters in romance novels, which is a literary trend especially amongst Gen Z.
A basic naming package costs $130 which can increase if parents want help with a middle name or if they want a boy and girl name as they won’t know the sex of their baby before birth.
In 2024, parents chose more traditional names for their babies. Photo / 123rf
Here are three takeaways from New Zealand’s 2024 list of popular baby names:
Old names become new
Names that would be considered grandparent-y made a strong showing. These include girls' names such as Hazel and boys' names like Jack, Arthur and Theodore.
This reflects a trend where grandchildren are honouring their grandparents, said Prior. This coincides with the cottage-core trend that leans to the whimsical style of the Edwardian era, making sourdough bread and growing vegetables from seed.
“I think it’s a mixture of wanting a name that honours people and if you’re lucky enough to have someone in your family with a name that you love, that is becoming a bit more established, it’s a win-win.
“I do think quiet luxury has been such a trend in fashion, like with [model and social media personality] Sofia Richie calling her child Eloise,” said Prior.
Religious names without the religion
New Zealand’s number one boys' name is that of a biblical character who built a boat to house every animal on Earth during a flood that destroyed the rest of creation. Elijah, a fiery Hebrew prophet from the Bible’s Old Testament, took out the ninth spot.
These two names remain popular despite the percentage of New Zealanders identifying as Christian dropping from 36.5% in 2018 to 32.3% in 2023. (Versions of these names also feature in Judaism and Islam.)
Prior, who grew up in a religious family, believes New Zealand’s increasingly secular beliefs mean Biblical names will lose their religious baggage.
“... I think it goes hand in hand with religion declining. It means that those names almost feel a bit more usable because people aren’t immediately associating them with religion unless they’ve got that background.”
People are after softer names for boys and Noah and Elijah provide that. In the future, Prior sees the Bible as providing a " treasure trove of incredible names".
Another trend in the baby name list is the use of abbreviations such as Theo, Lily and Leo as a child’s full name. Theo has historically been short for Theodore (which also appeared on the top 10 list), Leo is short for Leonardo and Lily is an abbreviation of Lillian.
It’s something that Prior strongly supports if parents prefer a nickname or an abbreviation over the name’s longer form.
“I think if people are going to go by a name for their whole life and not really ever register their full name, I don’t think there is anything wrong with going with the abbreviated nickname version of a name.”
Some parents are concerned that officially naming the child the abbreviated version will give off an unprofessional vibe later in life. However, Prior sees discrimination in this as the concern is mostly floated when it comes to girl names and not for boys.
Prior also works in the finance industry and several male co-workers in her office go by abbreviated names like Joe or Nick. One female co-worker uses her abbreviated name professionally.
“No one ever says that [the boys are] not going to take them seriously, but it’s always an issue with nicknaming girls, and I think that really frustrates me ...”
