Naming a baby is very tricky. The awareness that whatever name you choose will be carried around by your precious infant forever – either as a blessing or a burden – is a big responsibility, and probably not one that should be undertaken while still slightly high on painkillers on the maternity ward.
More often than not you need two parents to agree, which can prove surprisingly difficult if you both have very different taste in names. When I had a son last year, my husband and I discovered we are totally opposed when it comes to great boys’ names – he was team Jason (!), while I preferred more weird and wonderful monikers. Guess who won.
Having two young children means I’ve heard all sorts of names in the playgrounds and nurseries of London, from popular options such as Leo, Matilda, Noah and Olivia, to some truly out there choices (there was a toddler called Erasmus on my train recently, and I once queued for an art gallery behind a baby Basil). But nothing has caused me to draw breath quite like the news that Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick has a 11-year-old daughter whose middle name is ‘Thatcher’.
Apparently there were equally shocked gasps from the audience at the Conservative Party conference when Jenrick shared this information, where he said it was ‘a good way of reminding her of a good prime minister’, as well as being a tribute to ‘strong women’. Clearly, Jenrick was happy to name his kid to celebrate his political affiliations; he pointed out to the audience that his daughter was born the same year that Margaret Thatcher died, although that still doesn’t quite explain why he went for Thatcher rather than Margaret.
Of course, it could be partly because, at the age of 42, Jenrick himself is a ‘geriatric millennial’ and therefore loves an unusual name as much as the rest of us.
Millennial parents are particularly concerned when it comes to choosing the perfect name – you want something unique but not so strange the kid will be made fun of; a name that works from babyhood to adulthood; and of course, a choice that will get you compliments when you announce it on Instagram.
As a result, the range of names used has increased dramatically in recent years – whereas in 1955, over half of American babies shared just 78 names, now that figure stands at 520 names. In the UK, ONS data shows that the proportion of babies with a name that ranks in the top 100 is gradually decreasing, as people try to avoid calling their offspring the same thing as everybody else.
In fact, you can even hire a baby name consultant these days to help you find the perfect moniker, and there are Instagram accounts dedicated to offering up interesting, uncommon names for prospective parents to consider. There’s also an app called BabyName, which is basically like Tinder, where you and your partner can left and right swipe on potential names to see if you get a match.
Jenrick may have gone a bit wild with his daughter’s middle name, but her first name is Sophia, which is currently one of the most popular girls’ names in the UK. Could’ve been worse – at least he didn’t go the whole hog and call her Margaret Thatcher Jenrick, which may have been taking those conservative credentials a bit too far.
