I’ve read that it used to be common for a whole batch of new babies to be named in honor of a new president. Now it seems like it’s more common to AVOID a name that suddenly comes into the public’s awareness, out of a fear that the name will become too common: remember when the new royal babies were born and everyone was worried it meant the names George/Charlotte were no longer usable.
I love namesakes and honor names, so I would love to see us lean back the other way. We have a new president-elect and vice-president-elect in the U.S. this week, and so I am working on a list of some possible honor names for this new era:
Abram
Alexandria
Anthony
Eleanor
Elena
Elizabeth
Fiona
Ford
Garland
Georgia
Greta
Harris
Hope
Jacinda
Jill
Jo
Joe
John
Joseph
Josephine
Joy
Justice
Katherine
Lewis
Maxine
Merrick
Nancy
Pete
Porter
Ruth
Sally
Sonia
Warren
Yates
More suggestions? I left out some names I felt had too strong of a single association (Kamala, Barack, Hillary, Biden, Bernie, Clinton), or that felt too dated for this generation of babies (Stacey, Christine, Michelle) and will have to wait a generation or two. Those are pretty subjective decisions, however, and will change with time, so feel free to mention any you think of that you think would work now or later on. Some would work beautifully as middle names even if we didn’t want to use them as first names.
Theodore
Edith
Franklin
..
I would humbly submit “Devi” as a great candidate for inter-cultural baby name exchange during this time. It is Harris’s middle name, and is a fairly popular South Asian girl name in general. It means “goddess,” and most importantly: it is SUPER simple and difficult to screw up (even intentionally…) by American English speakers.
Devi!
Oh, Devi is a great suggestion!
I do like it, though I’d be reluctant to put it on one of my own kids. Feels like it might be cultural appropriation.
I agree with you that Bernie has a strong singular association, but I don’t think Bernard (his real name) has that same strong association. I actually love the name Bernard. :)
Ooh, love Jacinda!
While I recognize this suggestion might be a little unpopular in this crowd – I personally think Barrett had a lot of potential!
Not for the new era we’re talking about, no.
Have to say, I have always loved the name Barrett (it’s a style outlier for me, but I’ve always enjoyed suggesting it to others), so I’m sad that it’s now so thoroughly off the table. It’s a shame it couldn’t have come to national attention via some other route.
ziiiiiiing. <3
This is such a great list! Josephine has been on my baby name list for a few years as an honor name for my fiancé Joe (Joseph). When we first got together (8 years ago) he mentioned that he’d like to name a son after himself & the idea did NOT tickle my fancy. A few years later I came around to using Josephine (nn Joey) as an honor name if the occasion arose. At this point it’s probably safe to say that we aren’t going to need any baby names and we named our cat after a favorite baseball player (Willie Mays). But I still love talking and thinking about names!!
A successful, working mother of 7 can’t be inspirational to women of our generation? Or we just aren’t allowed to have a differing viewpoint? Just curious. Women are allowed to be successful but only if they have the same political views as “you.” Ok, got it.
We are all allowed to have different viewpoints, and to be inspired by different people. What a nice country we live in!
This post is talking about names for this new era brought in by the president-elect and vice-president-elect. The person you are talking about belongs vividly to the old era and the old administration. So yes, you may be inspired by her/that, if you wish: no one is attempting to prevent you in any way, nor could they have any hope of preventing you even if they were to try. But her name does not fit into the category specified by this post.
I guess I maybe wasn’t on the same page as to what belonged to the new era and what didn’t. I was thinking current influential politicians in general. (Feel free to enlighten me if you feel inclined). I do happen to respect and admire Justice Barrett so thats where it came from, although in practice I doubt I would use the name because its a little too uncommon for me.
Also: I recently found out that Joe Biden’s late daughter was named Naomi nn Amy, which I think is really sweet. But I don’t know whether that really falls under this category either, as someone who is a little more tangentially connected with a political figure rather than being a political figure.
I am thinking of political figures who align with (i.e., honor) the goals and ideals of the president-elect and the vice-president-elect, rather than those who are deeply associated with the previous administration and those values. So for example, I have John Lewis and Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the list, despite them not literally being with us during this next administration; but I do not have names such as Mitch, McConnell, Lindsey, Graham, etc., even though they WILL be continuing on, because no one could argue that the use of their names would honor the new president-elect and vice-president-elect. Amy Coney Barrett, similarly, could have her names used very appropriately to honor the previous president/administration, but not the new one.
I wonder if people used to use the names of presidents’ children, as well? It seems like they would have, but I don’t know. I thought I remembered something about former president Jimmy Carter’s daughter Amy setting off a wave of Amys while he was in office—but I just looked it up, and he was president from 1977 to 1981, when the name Amy was already in the Top 10, and had been since 1969. So maybe people just noticed Amys while he was in office, and thought there was a connection.
If I had to guess I would imagine there would be a stronger effect for presidents’ children who actually lived in the white house rather than ones who were already adults. Theodore Roosevelt comes to mind, but since he was decades before social security cards became essentially universal I don’t know whether we would be able to tell from the data. There’s some good ones in there though! Alice, Theodore, Archibald, Kermit, and Quentin. I like Quentin best. It’s too bad Kermit is so unusable.
Oops, forgot Ethel.
Rosa!
Oh Jacinda almost makes me weepy to have there! I’m a kiwi and of course we love her here but it’s lovely to see her recognised overseas.
Hi Swistle! I’m a longtime lurker, but have been too shy to comment until now. No, it’s fine for people to disagree— but what Amy Barrett, in her position of power, has done is advocated turning her beliefs into LAW. So yes, in fact, because of the power differential between us, readers (who presumably don’t have a direct influence on the laws and regulations of the land), and her, agreeing to disagree is not possible.
Make no mistake, Kat and Emily, the political IS personal. It takes a great deal of privilege to say oh let’s just agree to disagree about politics— politics dictates the rights and freedoms of people. She’s written in one court opinion that abortion is “always immoral”, what does that do for women who “disagree” with her and think women should have a right to bodily autonomy? Can they just agree to disagree with an SC judge the next time abortion rights are challenged?
Big thanks, Cristal, for articulating that so clearly. It really helps me to be able to pinpoint exactly what’s troubling me in the struggle I’m having with a particular family member right now. Thank you so much for your words.
Applause!!
Keep commenting!
Aye. Why should your beliefs trump mine? Or vice versa. Especially if one of those beliefs is actually a minority position in our society. And Justice Barrett seems to rule strongly with her religious beliefs, rather than precedent or the general feeling of the country. Most of us are not fundamentalists, and even her Pope has said he thinks civil unions between gay folks are okay with him.
Two weeks ago, I gave birth to a baby named Sonia! Her middle name is Nancy—not after the speaker of the house but after another strong lady, my late mother.
What about Marshall (Thurgood perhaps is too on the nose)?
I think Jacinda is also strongly associated with just one person, just like Hillary or Kamala.
RBG’s first name was Joan (Ruth was actually her middle name, although I’m unsure if she officially changed her name when she got married or if she just went by her middle name), I could see Joan making a comeback.
I CAN’T BELIEVE I DIDN’T KNOW THIS!!! Joan makes a GREAT stealth-honor name.
Yes to Joan making a comeback! My 13 year old is named Joni (nn Jones) after my mom, Joan. We never meet any Joans/Jonis her age or younger. The closest was a 20-something.
Yes! Bring back Joan!
Love this! I’ll add Nikole and Hannah and heck, why not Jones? A nod to, of course, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for NYT 1619 Project. If you haven’t listened to it yet, it’s amazing.
I’ve also been thinking Wells would be a great gender neutral name as a nod to Ida B. Wells. Or maybe as a nickname for Wilhelmina?
I’d like to our forward some virtue or Puritan-esque names that I believe have at least strong middle name potential and I think are in the spirit of The New and Very Welcome Era:
Amity (it truly is a shame about the Ville Horror association)
Charity
Constance
Felicity/Felix
Honor
Joy
Mercy
Patience
Prudence nn Prue
Verity
Victory
I would also like to throw out Elizabeth nn Libby as a stealth nod to Liberty.
Especially because of the Liberty Bell.
Has anyone mentioned Georgia yet?
Middle names: Bader, Blasey, Rodham.
I personally think they could also work as first names but might be a little too strong-associated?
Penn for a boy. Detroit or Philadelphia or Arizona or Nevada if you want something statementy.
Hah- nice pun
My last name is Bader. I do think it could work as a middle name. I’d be a little leery of using it has a first name. Think Master first name ;)
One small thing is that for decades my name was pronounced with a small a sound, but I think RBG makes everyone pronounce it the right way.
I think Beau could be added to this list.
And Maya and Meena (Harris) may inspire some names.
We just had a boy named Beau. You can write to the White House in a babies first year and get a letter saying congrats from the president. I’ve already penned my request which I’ll post Jan 20th: Dear President Biden, I hope my Beau grows up to be as great a man as yours.
Oh JD, that’s so beautiful it makes me want to cry!
My last name is the same as RBG’s maiden name. So I like the idea of using Ruth.
My very favorite name is Malia. I liked it before I knew of Malia Obama, but I’m glad that it was an Obama and not a Trump ;). Maybe Malia Ruth would make a good name?
I was beaten to suggesting Devi! I think Robinette is a pretty cool middle name…
I feel like Kamala is a pretty mainstream Sanskrit name that Americans know about/use, and it doesn’t seem too bad to me. Although if the baby was born now it might be a little weird….