Gen-Z is about to revolutionize the world of baby names, remaking the very foundations of names and naming.
As the oldest Gen-Zers turn 25, the average age in the US for women to have their first child, they'll take over from millennials as the primary baby havers...and baby namers. Like every generation before them, they’ll reinvent names in line with their own values and vision.
But Generation Z will change names and naming in ways that go far beyond new favorite first letters and pet inspirations. Instead, Gen-Z is set to transform not only what we name our children but how we define names and use them in our lives.
Here, how Gen-Z will revolutionize names and naming over the next generation.
New names won't be just for babies.
Gen-Z feels that names should reflect one’s identity in all kinds of ways, in terms of gender identity along with cultural and family identity, creativity and individuality, values and beliefs. Young Gen-Zers already commonly change their names at will to reflect changing ideas, a practice we expect they’ll continue not only for themselves but for their children.
This is a generation that grew up with screen names, social media handles, alternate identities of all kinds. They’re not shy about trying on a new name to fit a new feeling or phase of life.
And you won't have only one of them.
Gen-Z has always moved through the world with an array of aliases, so they’re comfortable with having a name wardrobe you change with the situation. So yes, on your resume you’re Willa Frances but with your friends you’re Billie and on social media you’re W(t)F. So your boss can’t find you on TikTok, and your followers can’t find you IRL.
If you start out with a unique name bestowed upon you by an adventurous Millennial parent – Trinity Sage Flanagan, say – you may adopt an alternate identity that’s harder to track down, like Emily Jones.
Girl names and boy names will become they names.
As the generation that came of age with legalized gay marriage and widespread lgbtq rights, Gen-Z prizes gender neutrality and fluidity. This plays out with the names they’ll pick for their children, which are more likely to be gender neutral or to mix conventionally gendered names in unconventionally gendered ways: names like Thomas Jane and Eve Edwin will be prevalent for children of all genders.
And not only for the children. Gen-Z adults value the right to change their own gender identity and to change their names to reflect that.That might mean more nonbinary names, free of traditional gender associations, in line with the inclusion of pronouns such as they/them and xe/xem along with she/her and he/him.
Millennial names = cheugy = out.
OK, Millennials. Zoomers disdain all things millennial as cheugy, which loosely means trying too hard or following outdated trends. That means an end to the mellifluous multisyllabic names that take their cues from the word millennial itself: Olivia, Oliver, Isabella, Elijah.
In their place, we see short, powerful names heavy on harder-sounding letters like Z and X: Fox, Xan, Oz, Nyx.
Anime and fantasy will expand the name universe.
The vast universe of anime and immersive video games like Elden Ring will inspire Gen-Z parents to create ever-more-adventurous names for their children and themselves. Many of these invented worlds blur the line between past and future, so Zoomers may search out names with roots in antiquity that haven’t been used in the modern world -- or at all. Think Zosime, Xerxes, Radagon. It may take a while for Gen-Zers to go as far as Grimes and Elon Musk’s new daughter Exa Dark Sideræl, but they’re moving in that direction.
The real world of names will get wider too.
Baby names in the English-speaking world have been traditionally Euro-centric, with a handful of African or Arabic names in the mix. We see name consciousness expanding to draw in names from a much broader range of cultures, from Japanese to Indian to Indigenous American.
Greater diversity is exciting, but names don’t necessarily work the same way across cultures. Gen-Z is also sensitive about cultural appropriation. Can names become more global while namers grow more sensitive about using names derived from origins not their own? That could be a delicate trick.
Spelling will become (even) more adventurous.
Zoomers are so not into capitalization or punctuation, and spelling conventions are also considered old-fashioned…or just plain old. The trend toward yooneek spellings that’s been building for half a century will break completely free of tradition. There will be no wrong name spellings because there will be no right name spellings.
Along with creative spellings, other symbols and characters such as numbers and apostrophes are more likely to appear in names. Some official birth certificate registrars may not accept such innovations now, but they will.
Nature will become as important a source of names as family or religion.
Nature names are another trend that’s been mounting for decades but will truly grow wild with Gen-Z. Widespread awareness of climate change and respect for nature means that the nature names already in ascendance – Wolf, Hazel, River – will get even more popular. And of course new nature names will emerge, drawn from the sky and the earth, plants and the sea, animals and yes, minerals. Tupelo, Gull, Firth, Kantuta? Yes, please.
Taste will revert to the antique and maximal.
When it comes to design trends, millennials’ favorite sleek all-white rooms are out, antiques are in, and more is back to being more. Will this trend translate to baby names? Yes but, the long vintage names favored by Gen-Z parents will be different from those favored by Millennial parents. So L-heavy names starting and ending with vowels are out, dusty upholstered dark-wood names are in. Aurelia out, Zenobia in.
Naming will be about the namers more than the names.
Previous generations saw names as something outside themselves, dictated by family, religion, cultural traditions, celebrities and mainstream trends. Gen-Z will see their own histories, experiences, identities as the source of names. That means more individual names, worn more proudly, and an end to name conformity.
