'Hot nerd' names are becoming all the rage. A baby name consultant shares her favorites.
“These guys are reading books but have pretty big muscles.”
Adrian "was invited to the party but instead spent the night reading a Reddit thread about AI."
It’s been the “Revenge of the Nerds” era for a while now. What used to be grounds for bullying—a preference for intellectuals, having some social awkwardness, an intense love of comic books and Dungeons & Dragons, etc.—easily falls under the mainstream attractive category today. So much so that some parents are trying to conjure up these qualities in their baby name selections.
Baby name consultant Colleen Slagen, who previously shared girls names from the 80s that did not age well (sorry, Heathers), was recently asked to come up with a list of “Hot Nerd" boy names.
Just what is a “Hot Nerd Boy"? Slagen gave the example of Seth Cohen from the O.C., played by Adam Brody. Brody himself, who was recently dubbed the ultimate millennial crush for his role as an adorkable hot rabbi in Netflix’s Nobody Wants This, is pretty much the poster child for this nebbish yet lovable trope. But Slagen also noted Cameron James (10 Things I Hate about You, played by James Gordon Levitt) and Matty Flamhaff (13 Going on 30, played by Mark Ruffalo), just to give you the full scope.
With that in mind, here are the “Hot Nerd Boy” names Slagen came up with, along with little lighthearted predictions about their personality:
Dexter, Calvin, Ambrose: "These guys are reading books but have pretty big muscles."
Clark, Spencer, Lyle: "These guys were wearing Crocs and socks before it was cool."
Marshall, Simon, Gideon: "These guys are confidently inviting you to the D&D party they host every Friday night."
Perry, Anson: "They were picked last in gym class, but they have six figures in their bank account from their online poker winnings."
Samuel (not Sam), Art (not Arthur): Slagen didn’t note personally for these, but clearly these guys are above nicknames.
Adrian: "He was invited to the party but instead spent the night reading a Reddit thread about AI."
@namingbebe Inspo by Seth Cohen. #babynames #nametok #nameconsultant #boynames #pregnant #greenscreen ♬ original sound - Colleen
Desmond: Instead of driving to work, he "takes his old Razor scooter to the Metro where he has a 1-hour long commute" in an "effort to reduce his carbon footprint."
But will giving a child a “Hot Nerd” name really shape their personality? Not necessarily. But research has shown that people can make all kinds of assumptions about someone’s personality based on their name—as well as their culture background, level of income, etc—which no doubt could affect how someone operates in the world.
Slagen herself told Upworthy that while she doesn't believe names influence our personality, she does think that names carry a certain vibe or aesthetic that may lead you to make assumptions, especially with less common names.
“Soleil sounds very chic, Sinclair sounds very preppy, Prudence sounds old money, Mary Cameron sounds southern, Juniper sounds like she could be from the Pacific Northwest,” she said.
She also noted that more than anything, the name choice says something about the parent’s personality. For example, she said that parents who are outdoorsy might want to give their children outdoorsy names like Cedar, Aspen, Cove and Wren.
When you put it that way, it’s really interesting to think about how we carry a little part of our parents along with our first names. Not just the family name, but their actual passions and interests. Of course, kids who get less than stellar names probably don’t appreciate this so much. But interesting nonetheless.
As for the sons “Hot Nerd" names…it seems pretty clear what moms interests are.
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