Baby Names

Maybe we should have named her Star.

I guess it's not surprising that as a baby photographer I would hear a lot of names in my work, but I'm still sometimes surprised. No, I haven't met any twins named Ima & Ura Hogg or any Tracy Junior Juniors. Usually I'm surprised with just how well-suited the names are to the children I meet.

Reading the recent Ohdeedoh article on hip 2010 baby naming trends, I'll have to say I breathed a sigh of relief when my daughter's name wasn't on the top 100. Maybe it's because I was one of 4 Kristins (aka Kristin D.) in my grade-school class. On the other hand, it's certainly not like when we were bandying about name ideas my husband and I wanted to make a name up or have it be so exotic it would either sound crazy with our last name or be impossible to spell.

Who knows why names become popular anyway? As much as I loved Freakonomics & their take on baby naming trends, there is sometimes just a cultural feeling in the air that makes certain names stick in your brain.

Turns out I may have let that sigh out too soon. Only after naming our daughter did the name scream out every time someone mentioned it. From Shakespeare (duh!) to LOST & Psyche & Taylor Swift & a movie premiering this month, suddenly Juliet is everywhere I turn. Luckily I've enjoyed most of these Juliets. In real life, they are coming out of the background too.

Just days ago I toured a local preschool where Jules may go a few mornings in the fall. First words out of the director's mouth? "Oh we have a Juliet in her class!" Well, there's no escaping your name - Juliet B. has a nice ring to it, right?