Everyone loves Instagram, right? Well yes, they do, and nothing could cast that concept in stone more firmly than the fact that people are having babies and naming them after Instagram filters. BabyCenter is a site that conducts a 340,000 strong census of baby names and analyses changing trends in babynaming. The culturally ubiquitous filters that you’ve been putting on your average photos to make them look slightly better than average are proving inspirational for millennial (snake people) parents. The BabyCenter website says:
“The wildly popular photo-sharing app Instagram has become a new source of name inspiration for today’s expectant parents. Many of Instagram’s filter names are gaining in popularity as baby names including Lux (up 75 per cent since 2014), Ludwig (up 42 percent), Amaro (up 26 per cent), Reyes (up 10 per cent), Hudson (up 4 percent), and Kelvin (up 3 per cent) for boys. Additionally, Valencia (up 26 per cent), Juno (up 30 per cent), and Willow (up 13 per cent) are on the rise for girls.”
Thankfully, "Walden", "1977" and "Toaster" don’t appear to make the cut. The rise in filter baby names is indicative of Instagram’s cultural capital, although that may well have diminished by the time that these babies are adults and have to explain to their friends why they’re called what they’re called, friends who only know what a phone is via basic history lessons, let alone an Instagram filter.
“Yeah it was just some thing Mum and Dad did, like um, they used to take these photos that were bad and then try and make 'em look better with filters so that they could show them to friends. I think that’s right anyway. I think that’s why I’m called Hudson.” Poor kid.
Regal names also soared in popularity, with girls’ name Royalty soaring by 88 per cent and boys’ name Reign going up by 54 per cent. I think I’d rather be an Instagram filter.
