Baby Names in the News

So far, I think I've kept my family's names out of this blog, but there's no real point since my husband is always saying them in his, right? So there's no reason for me not to rant about Michelle Branch naming her new daughter Owen. My 2 year old (a BOY) is named Owen, and we thought at the time that his name would be somewhat unique. Since he was born, I've met a ton of little Owens and resigned myself to the rising popularity of the name, but at least they were all boys!

I consider myself a feminist, women should be able to do what they want, blah blah blah, but is nothing sacred??? As a mother of boys, let me tell you - it is a lot harder to name boys than girls. With both of my kids, we came up with tons of girl names that both of us liked (we even have a likely candidate for the as-yet-hypothetical next one, on the wildly improbable chance it's a girl), but we struggled with boy names. There are fewer choices to begin with, and there's a much finer line between too popular and too weird.

I don't begrudge Gwyneth Paltrow her Apple or Julia Roberts her Hazel, or any of the other weird names celebrities give their kids - I get that it must be hard to have a private life in the public eye, and the public would probably complain just as much if they chose ordinary names. But I wish this trend toward hijacking good boy names for girls would stop, especially as I'm sure to need more in the future. My husband needs to buy an x, he seems to have run out of girl sperm.