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Baby name experts are alarmed by a recent rise in gun-related names, such as Shooter and Caliber.
“There is a small but notable trend of parents using gun-inspired, and more generally aggressive, names for their children,” said Sophie Kihm, editor-in-chief of the website Nameberry. HuffPost in an interview. “Many of these names first appeared on baby name charts in the 2000s, including Wesson, Caliber, Shooter and Trigger.”
“Most of these names peaked relatively recently: Wesson in 2021, when it was used 306 times, Caliber in 2018 with 24 uses, Mace in 2022 with 64 uses, Dagger in 2022 with 13 uses,” he added.
“It's hard to say if these names have truly peaked in usage or if some will see further usage, but I don't think we're past this trend yet!”
Gun-inspired names also include some brands like Remington and Winchester. Some of the names, according to the Social Security Administration, are other general violent terms such as Arson, Cutter and Dagger.
There are several reasons why parents seem to be drawn to these more violent names, including their relationship to cowboy names, which Kihm said parents gravitate toward, and that many of these names also sound like last names.
According to baby name consultant Taylor A. Humphrey, parents draw inspiration from meaningful names within their family. As such, a popular trend she has witnessed is parents giving their last names as names to their babies.
“In many cases, these are family names used to honor a deceased loved one,” he said. the independent in October 2024. “It's a fun way to modernize the tradition of honorary names. For example, if your beloved grandmother is called Ethel Taylor, but you fear that Ethel is too old-fashioned, you could choose the more modern and androgynous Taylor for your son or daughter.”
Humphrey also said that another baby name trend in 2025 could be any names a celebrity has used or names that were used on popular TV shows in 2024.
For example, he said that while the name Jack was already on the Social Security Association's recent ranking of popular boy names, he predicted its popularity would increase in 2025 after Hailey and Justin Bieber named their son Jack Blues Bieber.
Despite the trend of violence-related names, Kihm said HuffPost That this might be the only time he doesn't support a specific trend.
“It's rare that I outright reject a name or a name trend, but I can't endorse gun-inspired names,” Kihm said. “They glamorize violence and, particularly after so much violence in the United States, they feel out of touch. In naming consulting, I have never encountered a parent who wants to use these names, but I would advise any client against it.”
