May 6, 2026 | Hannah Field | Editor-in-Chief
Celebrities have always been well-known for unique names for their children. Notably, Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple. Nara Smith picked Fawnie Golden, Rumble Honey, Slim Easy and Whimsy Lou. The Kardashian family are maybe the most discussed for their family names, such as Saint, Aire, Psalm and Stormi.
There’s been a trend of unique spellings, nouns and adjectives turned titles and both a nature and elderly influence in baby names. Despite the commonality of encountering an influencer family with never-before-heard children’s names, the general public seem split between judgment and adoration. On Reddit, someone reported a TikTok post they encountered of a list of potential baby names: Foxley, Laxley Hart, Neah, Trigg, Banks, Daxx and Taro being named. And, as expected, the thread found it right to criticize. Somebody wrote: “These people really need to play a few RPGs or raise some chickens to get their creative name itch scratched.”
As for why influencers and celebrities take on unknown names, it’s complex. Many just find the names cute-sounding or spelled in a way that feels right, but others report that they’re looking to generate curiosity and talkability, which might be the right choice for somebody seeking online fame — after all, bad press is still press.
The website Medium noted that many parents might be prioritizing unique choices in a world that highly values individuality, that a unique name can be a “badge of honor.”
Joe Pinsker wrote in an article titled “The Age of the Unique Baby Name” that Americans had started to fixate on unique names for their children once family sizes started to shrink, kids quit doing labor and priorities changed.
Now, people may feel pity for the Liams, Noahs, Olivias and Emmas of the world, as they might be considered cursed with the country’s most-picked names. Such a fate is considered unlucky, knowing that multiple of their peers will have the same name as them and they’ll always be identified by their middle and last name in association with the first.
Creativity is also valued, despite today’s rise in artificial intelligence. Picking an uncommon baby name can be viewed as a nontraditional choice made to break conformity and defy societal norms.
Elizabeth Broadbent published a piece in 2018 titled: “Yes, My Kids Have Weird Names — So What?” In it, she explained that she grew tired of her last initial, that she dated multiple Chris’s who had to be identified by other names and had vowed to never put her kids through the same. So, she went with alternatives: Blaise, Augustin and Sunny.
“I’m happy with my kids names,” she wrote, calling them cool and unique. “So you think my kids’ names are weird? I don’t give a f—k. I love them exactly the way they are. Your opinion is neither solicited nor taken under advisement, thanks. If I have another baby, they’ll have an equally weird-ass name.”
Contact the author at howleditorinchief@wou.edu
