Thoughts on "hippy" names?

[Anonymous]

I think some of these hippy names being listed are much more commonplace now. Summer, Willow, River, Sage, Wilder---all more mainstream and won't look odd on resumes.
Apple, Fox, Star and Moonbeam? These names just scream "look at me"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if Arrow was gay?

Thay would be so funny!

I know a boy called Willow and he gets made fun of. He compensates by being super aggressive. I wonder if they would have the same result if they called him William, Warren, Winston, etc...

[Anonymous]

There's a fun category of names called, I think, surfer names. They are short and breezy, but without the woo-hoo aspect of the hippy names.

[Anonymous]

Mars is the god of war. It is a masculine and violent name. So I would not name a girl that AND I would not consider it a hippy dippy name!

Generally I think hippy names are fine and these days they will be super fine. All the resume stuff we think will not be an issue in 20-30 years because all these kids are getting names and there are a million think pieces about not judging names. And this is a good thing. But the people reviewing your kids resume is going to be a current gen z-er, the most accepting and do your thing generation ever.

But don't name your daughter after the god of war.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, don’t underestimate how annoying it is to have a name where people aren’t sure what they heard. At least with “Apple,” people know they heard Apple. Same with Fox, Sage, Willow, etc. I think with Arrow, people with always be like “did you say Aaron?” It gets old.

My daughter has a name that is pretty simple but sort of uncommon, and people never understand what it is. They always think it’s something else. It’s annoying.

So this happens with my daughter's name too, and her name is in the top 50 baby names and comes with a very easy-to-pronounce and recognizable nickname.

I was thinking about this the other day and how it's frustrating when someone asks me her name and then I often get these confused looks when I say it, or people thinking I said something else. But if this is happening with my DD's name, I don't think it's the name. I think it's that names are so varied now, and people don't encounter the same names over and over the way they used to. Unless your kid has one of the few names you really do hear quite a bit (and for girls, there really are only a few of these, and none of them are nearly as ubiquitous as the most popular names in the 70s or 80s), the person you are talking to might have never met someone with that name before. This happens to me constantly. Thinking about my kid's preschool class, I can only think of three names that feel familiar to me, and I don't associate any of them with a specific person. It's more like I have read them in books or heard them on TV. There is a ton of language and ethnic diversity in the names too.

So I think it's just standard now for people to be mildly confused when they hear a kid's name for the first time. It's not a "wait that's a name?" confusion, it's literally just trying to wrap your head around how many different names people have, instead of 50 years ago when half the people you met were named John or Mary or something.

In which case, OP, name your kid what you want. If you are going to get confused looks and mispronunciations with a name like Lucas or Mia (top 10 names), go ahead and name your kid Jupiter or Hero or something. Heck, a lot of hippy names are at least words people are very familiar with because they are nature words or place names. You might get less confusion naming your kid Arrow than someone with a Theodore who is constantly explaining he goes by Theo.

[Anonymous]

My niece is named Marley, which is kind of hippy, and we all call her Mars.

I kind of love Arrow. Really love it.

[Anonymous]

Arrow was my first dog's name. Her mom's name was Bow.

I tend to like nature-based hippie names but not inventive for the sake of uniqueness celebrity names. So: Sage, Willow, River, sure! Inspektor, Jermajesty, Rocket: nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My niece is named Marley, which is kind of hippy, and we all call her Mars.

I kind of love Arrow. Really love it.

I like this idea best. I don't hate your ideas, but these names are kind of A LOT if they wind up with very straight-laced personalities.

[Anonymous]

“There are only two ways a child can go with a name like Pippin Galadriel Moonchild, and Pepper had chosen the other one”

You really can’t predict whether a name will suit a child (see you and your DH with your formal names) so I would just go with whatever you like but accept if Mars decides in middle school that actually she’s going by Mary now. (I also think Arrow isn’t really that out there for a boy tbh.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't do this to your kid. Give then normal names and call them by the hippy name. My sister did this with her kids. I call them by their formal names because their hippy names are stupid. Of course, I don't tell her what I really think of her choice, but at least she didn't burden her kids for life.

Actually, you are telling your sister exactly what you think every time you call her kids by their fomal names.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't do this to your kid. Give then normal names and call them by the hippy name. My sister did this with her kids. I call them by their formal names because their hippy names are stupid. Of course, I don't tell her what I really think of her choice, but at least she didn't burden her kids for life.

Actually, you are telling your sister exactly what you think every time you call her kids by their fomal names.

I really hope PP's nieces and nephews grow up to hate their formal names and totally lean in to their hippy nicknames just to spite her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't do this to your kid. Give then normal names and call them by the hippy name. My sister did this with her kids. I call them by their formal names because their hippy names are stupid. Of course, I don't tell her what I really think of her choice, but at least she didn't burden her kids for life.

Actually, you are telling your sister exactly what you think every time you call her kids by their fomal names.

I really hope PP's nieces and nephews grow up to hate their formal names and totally lean in to their hippy nicknames just to spite her.

I am that PP and I hope you are right too. I wish them all the happiness and confidence life can offer.

[Anonymous]

Marina means “of the sea.” You can call her Mars.

[Anonymous]

They make me cringe. I hate this trend of random word names like Arrow, Rune, Cove, etc. The nature names have gotten out of hand, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a fun category of names called, I think, surfer names. They are short and breezy, but without the woo-hoo aspect of the hippy names.

I need to hear these surfer names! The only surfer names I know are Orion and Kai.

I used to be a hippie. Hippies I have known:

Sativa
Cedar
Crag
Heron
Sunshine
Harvest
Bodhi