She claims to be a baby naming professional, revealing that her clients pay up to 10.000$ to find the perfect name for their child.
Taylor A. Humphrey, from New York, is the founder of "Whats in a Baby Name", a boutique that offers baby naming advice. Her services start at $1,500 for a personalized list of options and can go several thousand dollars more, depending on the job. For example, for the price of $10,000, Humphrey will come up with a name that "matches the parent's business name," she said in an interview with the New Yorker magazine.
"If you take a look at the most popular baby names, they are indicative of a country's cultural values and our aspirations," she told the magazine."
The 33-year-old, who has no children of her own but also works as a "doula" (maternity assistant), makes every effort to help parents find the perfect name. They first answer a questionnaire to understand their preferences and she can even do a genealogical search to find old names in the family.
Last year she was the "official godmother" to at least 100 children and part of her job is to advise parents on the process. In one case, she curated a list of 50 names for a child of Lebanese and French descent who grew up in America. The client ultimately chose the top name, Chloe.
Humphrey also recently came up with the name Parks for the baby of a couple who exchanged their first kiss in a Florida town called Parker.
But where does she draw her inspiration from? As she says, she scans everything from movie titles to street names. She also tracks trends using the Social Security database and notes names that are in steep decline due to negative correlations like natural disasters and specific brands.
According to Humphrey, the popularity of four-letter names in previous years was the result of social networking apps like Tinder that offer instant gratification.
On the other hand, she believes the return of multi-syllable names is due to the COVID lockdown, as we had more time to enjoy relaxed activities.
The baby name expert is a graduate of New York University and has previously tried her hand at other jobs, such as screenwriter. But it seems she's found her calling.
She started in 2015 by simply creating an Instagram page @whatsinababyname and soon started getting messages. "People would send me messages asking me what to name their babies. I think they were seeing something on the lists and thought I could help them come up with names that would match those of other children they have."
Humphrey said she felt "so flattered" at the time that she was "giving out free advice". Once she started studying to be a "doula" in 2018, she realized she could turn "outreach" into a niche business.
She admitted there were mistakes in the beginning. For example, she recalled how she had convinced an Armenian family not to use the alternative spelling of a name because she feared it would change the pronunciation. However, a year later, she learned that the parents had changed the name to the spelling they preferred.
"It was at that moment that everything changed for me and I realized that it was not about me and my personal preferences. It's about the name being meaningful to the family," she explained. "I had matured and realized that I'm not the expert, I'm just the guide."
What if parents regret the name?
This is something she's noticed more and more in her work in recent years. She referenced Kylie Jenner's recent announcement that her son will no longer be named Wolf. (She hasn't legally changed his name yet.)
"Kylie Jenner and her son's name change has brought all of this to the forefront and it is, from what I can see, rampant." Many also change their children's names when they reach infancy because they feel the name is irrelevant and doesn't fit them anymore.
He also mentioned the postpartum depression and anxiety that new moms have that causes them to constantly question their decisions, even about the name.
Humphrey's personal services are not financial, but she has more than 46,700 followers on TikTok, where she gives her advice for free.
In one video, she responded to a follower who asked for a New York-themed name, noting that she already has two children named Brooklyn and Chelsea. She suggested Astoria, Waverly and Lexington for girls and Balthazar, Hudson and Mercer for boys.
"Believe it or not, this is my main job, full-time," she stressed in a TikTok video.
Source: iefimerida.gr
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
