and if you aren’t a yuppie? Yeah, you probably think you are better at naming babies than you actually are. Or even MORE crazy- you might be BOTH!
Melissa of Dear Baby tweeted a link last night to blog about elitist baby names and how even if you aren’t picking a name straight from the top 100 lists- chances are you are in the top hundred names of your peers. So, that upscale preschool we are all dying to get into? Yeah- there is probably 12 Hudson’s there. Or if I were to ever get the cash to send the kids to Lycee Francais la Perouse I’m pretty sure the class would be brimming with Little girls names Sawyer and little men named Truman Joseph Walker and Hudson Owen. Because, well- we aren’t as cool or original as we think we are.
Conversely, my kids will most likely attend public school. Where, Hudson, Truman & Sawyer may be the only ones of their kind. Am I setting my kids up to grow to be hipster lame asses?
Shit, I hope not.
Check out Nameberry.com and look at the lists “names more trendy then you think”. It made me sad.
March 24th, 2010 - 8:29 AM
Sorry, but I think it’s really silly to say names are “trendy” or not.
It’s a name. It’s not a shirt or a hairstyle. You don’t pick a name because it is popular or unpopular, you pick it because you love it and feels right. Right?
Hudson, Truman and Sawyer have lovely names that already suit their little personalities so perfectly! (Not because they are hipster babies)
Not sure where I’ve gone with this comment. Basically. eff lists, You like what you like.
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March 24th, 2010 - 8:34 AM
I heart you, mama. I chose the names because I love them- but there is something about knowing a million other kids have the same name. It makes me kinda angry. It’s irrational and all, but I can’t help feel like “damn, they aren’t individual enough!” I want a name like Kelsey for a boy- or Mercer. One that when someone says it- they KNOW who they are talking about. They don’t have to say “emily who?” and then only know based on last name.
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March 24th, 2010 - 8:55 AM
Dammit!!! I thought Milo was kind of original. I don’t want their to be another in his entire school. I’ve played with the idea of naming a future little girl Mercer because I love his name so much.
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March 24th, 2010 - 9:08 AM
Hmmm…I was sure both my names would be on this list when I read the post, but just Bubbette’s name. I was sure Bubs would b there too…::sorta glad:: even though I didn’t think they were super original when I fell in love with them.
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March 24th, 2010 - 9:46 AM
Kristi- I’d totally name a girl Mercer if i were you!!! So cute! And don’t worry- apparently none of us are original!
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March 24th, 2010 - 10:10 AM
Well I guess now is the perfect time to comment..I found your blog a few weeks ago and have been checking in- AKA stalking- and I was at the zoo with my son on Monday and in front of me a mom was yelling at her sons to come back “Hudson and Sawyer get back here!” I had never heard the names before your blog so ofcourse thought of you. I am a yuppie as well apparently. My almost 3 year old son’s name is Jasper- a name I have loved for about 5 yrs- before this whole Twilight ordeal and I had never heard of Twilight until after his 1st birthday but now on Cafe Press I can apparently order over 3,000 items with his “Unique, nobody is going to have it name” So sad.
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March 24th, 2010 - 10:23 AM
I guess I’m a yuppie too! Well, one of my girls’ is on there!
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March 24th, 2010 - 10:43 AM
I named my son Ryder (which isn’t on the list). I know there are a few “Ryders” out there but I was hoping he would at least be the only one in his class with the name…..then I found out soon before he was born that my sisters boyfriends sister-in-law’s sister (HA!) was naming her son Ryder. ARGH! But what are you going to do…force them to name there kid something else!? And I don’t care now because I know that my Ryder boy is indeed a “Ryder”.
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March 24th, 2010 - 10:44 AM
p.s. I LOVE the name Sawyer for a girl! That is one of my choices for my future daughter…or son for that matter!
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March 24th, 2010 - 11:26 AM
Darlene: lol. Yes, that is apparently a common combo of names. My family was ice skating and my little cousin started playing with two little boys names Truman and Sawyer. It’s pretty funny. I love the name Jasper as well. Even if it’s a twilight name & also the villain guy on 90210!
Teresa: lol. just one yuppie child. Elena, especially with that spelling will stay uncommon I think. Both totally cute names though. I cannot WAIT to meet them.
Laura: Yeah, you can’t help but feel slightly upset when you see someone else having the name you thought was original. Oh well, Ryder is a Ryder and that’s all that matters!
This post was more just for shits and giggles. Not to make anyone feel sad about how many Hudson’s will be in their little Hudson’s class. I was just surprised about the popularity of names I previously thought were “uncommon”
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March 24th, 2010 - 1:00 PM
I am shocked -SHOCKED- Evan isn’t on that list. Although now that I think about it, it’s not really a super special snowflake kind of name, it’s just a nice normal name that’s been gaining popularity. Although I still insist I WIN in the yuppie naming department for making my kid the third. No one with a “III” after there name isn’t a yuppie.
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March 24th, 2010 - 1:05 PM
I have been so consumed with finding a perfect and perfectly unpopular name for our babe…but after reading that article this morning I think I am just going to throw in the towel and figure that no matter what name I pick it will be popular (shoot). At least my child will have a popular yuppy/hipster name and not just a popular ‘normal’ name. Not sure if that’s a good thing though
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March 24th, 2010 - 3:28 PM
I am a new reader and really enjoy your blog! Your post today totally make me chuckle. Hilarious.
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March 24th, 2010 - 3:47 PM
Maybe the thing that makes you a yuppie/yupster/hipster/whatever is actually believing the name that you choose for your kid will make him/her unique or creative. As Krust said, you choose a name because you like it and because it suits your kid. Worrying how many other kids have the same name is just a waste of energy.
Your kids are a product of their upbringing so if you bring them up like a yuppie douchebag then that’s what they will be, not because there are two other Hudson’s or Milo’s in the same school.
Shit, my kid’s name is Johnathan. Ever noticed how that there are like a million Johns? Does that mean that people named John are less unique/individual etc. than somebody with a name nobody has heard? Exactly.
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March 24th, 2010 - 4:31 PM
You’re totally correct Dan. I didn’t realize these names were yuppie. I did try to choose something abnormal but not because I felt that would make my kids anymore creative etc. I just felt after reading the article that I was silly to be upset when I met another Hudson. Because I didn’t invent the name so I shouldn’t be protective of it. That’s all I was getting at.
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March 25th, 2010 - 5:24 AM
Add me to the list! We have a Finnegan and it was completely undheard of three years ago when we named him, now we’re seeing little Finn’s popping up all over.
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March 25th, 2010 - 2:50 PM
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Emily Brandt. Emily Brandt said: Blog:: Hi. I'm a yuppie. Chances are, you are too. http://www.emmiebee.com/2010/03/24/hi-im-a-yuppie-chances-are-you-are-too/ [...]
March 25th, 2010 - 5:50 PM
add me to the list…kind of. We have an Emilia but its not spelled the same way as the article.
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March 29th, 2010 - 5:07 PM
Our top baby names are on both of the lists. I thought we were being pretty creative with our girl name~ my grandmother’s & his mother’s names so they’re kinda old school… Guess not?!
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April 6th, 2010 - 2:53 PM
Ah nameberry I spent MANY hours on there, getting annoyed. Ha.
I for one thing you have the BEST baby names. I LOVE Sawyer and tried to pass that one off to hubs but it, like a lot of names I love, sounds stupid with our last name.
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June 16th, 2010 - 1:52 AM
I guess if every kid on the playground has a stupid name it's hard to single anyone out for teasing.lol
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June 20th, 2010 - 9:12 PM
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April 4th, 2011 - 9:10 AM
Well the last name as a first name approach is de riguer for the yuppie parent. Just yesterday an upwardly mobile young Mother was chasing her precious “McKenna” down the aisle at the bookstore. How did I know the child’s name ? The Mother called it out oh only about 10 times ostensibly to reign in her unruly child though more realistically so the entire second floor of Banes and Nobles could ooo and ahhh at what a “totally original” name she had chosen for her daughter. “McKennas” are a dime a dozen these days. However, when Montessori schools were all the rage parents would become indignant to discover that their carefully chosen name was in use by like 5 other kids. Not sure what they were thinking but given that being trendy and following the pack are quintessential characteristics of being a yuppie. There is SO much to be angry about when you are a yuppie.
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Emmie Bee Reply:
April 4th, 2011 at 12:25 PM
There is a lady at the park like that. She says her kids name TOO MUCH. It’s really strange. I’m such a yuppy I’m scared to say my kids names because I don’t want their names used by others!
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April 6th, 2011 - 10:07 AM
I hope I’m not being repetitious here but I think you have hit on something of a paradox.
Given that much of what defines a yuppie involves a common sense or approach to a number of things such as fashion, entertainment, transportation, housing, and education, can it really be surprising to anyone that “yuppie” baby names would tend to be homogeneous ? If one reads the same books as the neighbor , goes to the same movies, concerts, and travel destinations, sends their children to the same schools, wears the same clothes then ,ultimately, there will be something of a shared consciousness even if its not deliberately cultivated. Thus baby name selections , among other things, will probably be drawn from a pre-defined pool though its not official or formal in any sense.
The surprising thing to me is that many parents , even though they are typically well-educated and gainfully employed, don’t seem to recognize any of this and seem to be totally flummoxed when they enroll their children in school only to find that the name they agonized over for their child is already “taken”. On occasion some parents even attempt to negotiate with teachers to get them to call other children with the same name “something different”.
“It will confuse our Abigail if she hears “her” name used in reference to someone else. Our early testing indicates that she is gifted and we wouldn’t something like this to impair her progress”.
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