Choosing the perfect name for your child can be an intimidating and challenging task, so much so that some parents are shelling out thousands of dollars in an attempt to identify the best baby name for their little ones. Yes, that’s right: “Professional baby namers” do exist, and their services are not exactly cheap.
Baby name consultant Taylor A. Humphrey recently spoke to the San Fransisco Chronicle about her baby-naming business, and it was mind boggling.
Social media seems to have made choosing a name more difficult.
As mentioned in the Chronicle article, for many parents, choosing a baby name today isn’t as simple as it was years ago. That might be, at least in part, due to social media and influencer culture. The options seem endless now, and there’s so much information about baby names that it can be overwhelming. A recent study found that more parents are choosing influencer-inspired names, and they might even be thinking about their social media presence and content strategy when choosing the “right” name for their babies.
Some wealthy parents are asking for professional help.
@whatsinababynamedoula A baby name should feel like a song, or poem! Harmonic, flowy, mellifluous, and beautiful. This is a behind the scenes clip from my recent feature in the SF Chronicle! Go check it out 🤓🤩 #babynames #sanfrancisco #babynameconsultant #bayarea #poetry ♬ Little Life – Robert Gromotka
Feeling pressured to choose the “perfect” name, parents have turned to professionals like Taylor. Taylor is one of about a dozen full-time professional baby-name consultants in the United States, according to the Chronicle. She offers a range of services. An email that includes personalized baby name recommendations will cost expectant parents about $200, while Taylor’s “bespoke” baby-naming services can cost up to $30,000.
She explained her process.
@whatsinababynamedoula Reply to @kelliajay baby name expert alert!!! #harlow #frankie #babynames #genderneutralnames #genderneutral #sibsets #siblings #siblingnames #babyname #name #babynamer #babynameconsultant #nameexpert #nametok #galen #professionalbabynamer #jackharlow ♬ Aesthetic – Tollan Kim
You might be wondering what kind of baby-naming services people are willing to pay thousands of dollars for. After all, Google does exist. Well, per the newspaper, pricier services can involve months of work, including video consultations and support from professional genealogists.
On her website, Taylor explains that the packages she offers vary based on clients’ needs. In addition to her bespoke baby name lists, Taylor also offers guidance and counseling and helps parents identify their personal name aesthetics. “Through visual boards, descriptive language, and curated categories, I help you uncover the underlying threads that connect your favorite names — not just in sound or meaning, but in feeling,” her website states.
The most expensive option is her ‘luxury, all-inclusive package.’
Essentially, this package can be whatever parents want it to be. “Perhaps you’d like to meet face-to-face, or throw a special baby name reveal party?” Taylor’s website states. “Maybe you are a blogger or influencer who needs help with Baby Name Branding? Maybe you’d like to have a genealogist compose a list of names from the deep recesses of your family tree, or hire a think tank to discuss your top list of baby names?”
During her interview with the Chronicle, Taylor admitted that it does feel “silly” to “come up with baby names for a living.” She started out by creating content about baby names. Now, a decade later, she has 100,000 followers on social media and has helped name more than 500 babies.
