I discovered Nameberry ten years ago, or however old Seraphina Affleck is plus six months. Distinguished as the largest baby name website, Nameberry co-producers Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz have revolutionized the process of baby naming.
The authors encourage parents to explore names through style and image rather than shuffling through dictionary-style baby name books. With that, the site is meticulously organized for any genre of name you can imagine and in turn, Nameberry is leading the baby name trends year after year.
Hung up on celebrities, culture and style back in high school, I stumbled across a baby name contest Nameberry was hosting on their website for Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck's second child -- of which they announced would be another girl.
Lucky for contestants, we had the advantage of knowing Jen and Ben's style and likings with their first child, Violet Anne. Long story short, I guessed the classic-yet-reemerging name Susanna Rose and won the contest. In lieu of bragging rights, I also took home a signed copy of Satran and Rosenkrantz's newest release, Cool Irish Names For Babies.
So ten years later, I still refer to Namberry as the true experts. And with a couple more successful predictions like Saint West and Haven Warren under my belt, I'm turning to the site for help on Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West's fourth child, due in the next couple weeks.
Sophie Kihm, Nameberry's designated celebrity baby name expert and site writer generously shared her predictions for the newest babe in the Kar-Jenner clan while warning parents of the trends to stay away from this year.
Kihm, who's correctly predicted the names of celebrity kids like Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder's daughter Bodhi and Shenae Grimes and Josh Beech's daughter Bowie, does detailed digging ahead of babies on the way. Turning to social media, Kihm will research passions, where a celebrity grew up, music interests and more. Grimes and Beech, for example, are big rock 'n' roll fans and Kihm turned to rock legends and predicted they would use the musical surname Bowie.
While research can help, there's always curveballs. And when celebrities have a new baby with a different partner than babies past, that adds a wrench into the process as well.
And with Kim and Kanye's fourth child and second son on the way, the gates are open for all possibilities considering that after swearing to exclusively use one-syllable names, Kim and Kanye threw a curveball (as they're known to do) and added Chicago West to their growing brood last year. A curveball for sure, Kihm admits.
So, what does Kihm think will happen? Despite Kim hinting that she's leaning towards Rob in honor of her father, Kihm doubts that will happen.
*Fun fact: Kihm predicted Sir for Saint's name and although she just narrowly missed the mark, Beyonce and Jay Z used it months later for their boy twin.
Kihm's predictions are as follows: Four, Winner, Epic, Stellar and Brave. Thinking that the couple will revert back to their virtuous-like names strategy, Kihm believes that Chicago might have simply been an exception to the rule. And in the end, Chicago did make sense if anyone knows anything about Kanye and his love and devotion to the Windy City.
Four and Brave have been officially added to my prediction list as well, which as of now, only includes the name Dash. Thinking that Kim is wanting an Armenian touch, Dash would take care of that while also falling in line with the other one syllables. And what a great episode it would be of KUWTK with Kim asking Kourt for permission to use Mason’s middle name!
Even though the Kar-Jenners have impacted the trend of virtuous and royal names, Kihm advises that parents stay away from the trend if possible. "They won't age well," she explains. "It's going to feel dated and tied to this decade. You'll be able to know how old they are."
If you're looking to experiment with names and have fun without the risk, Kihm suggests playing around in the middle name. "It's a place to be more creative," she says.
Some celebrities to feel inspired by for fun with the middle name? Actress Zooey Deschanel and husband Jacob Pechenik chose Elsie Otter and Charlie Wolf for their children -- fun with an animal theme that carries significant less risk. My longtime favorite names are from Nicole Richie and husband Joel Madden, who selected Harlow Winter Kate for their daughter and Sparrow James Midnight for their son. There's a vibe, a theme and certain uniformity to it that's fun, but safe.
For all baby name themes, trends and ideas you haven't even thought about, head to Nameberry.com.
Comments