Hipster names?!

General Name Discussion
1

I don’t understand what people mean by hipster and hipster names. What is that!? What would you consider to be hipster names?

2

I guess I’d describe a hipster name as one that’s trying to buck the larger society trend but that ends up being a trend in itself.

Names like: Mabel (old-fashioned) or Piper (slightly out there but not wild) or Atticus (literary) or Ray (overstated simplicity)

Some I like and some I don’t. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, but some names do have that feel.

3

To me, Hipster names are the names that are uncool, therefore they are cool again. [name]Just[/name] like ugly vintage oxford shoes are trendy among hipsters - their out, therefore they are in. (Hipster names would be things like [name]Edith[/name], [name]Agnes[/name] / [name]Agatha[/name], [name]Millicent[/name]…Not bad names by any means, my list is full of a lot of “hipster” names)

4

Huh, interesting. Thanks!

5

[name]Ever[/name] heard the expression “all you noncomformists are just alike?” That’s hipsters.

They do come in different flavors:

  1. It’s Hip to Be Square: likes vinyl over CDs, grows an ironic beard, makes their own pickles, and names their kids [name]Ralph[/name], [name]Martha[/name], [name]Agatha[/name] or [name]Walter[/name].

  2. We Pretend to Be Hippies But We Have a Much Greater Disposable Income: likes LEED-certified buildings, farm-to-table movements, bikes, and names their kids [name]Auden[/name], [name]Sequoia[/name], and [name]Teale[/name].

  3. We Pretend to be Hippies but Secretly We Want to Be Like our College Friends who Work In Investment Banking: likes top-tier private schooling, organic products that cost 3-10x more, and “living in the the city” because of the “advantages” and “diversity.” Also known as yupsters. Names their kids [name]Antonia[/name], [name]Dashiell[/name], [name]Isolde[/name] and Clytemnestra.

  4. We Pretend to be Whimsical but Really We Overthink Everything We [name]Do[/name]: likes yoga, hemp clothing; will tell you they’re ‘creative’ and an ‘artist’ because they make very bad art once a month in their backyard shed; names their kids Jujubee, [name]Lottie[/name], [name]Lou[/name] or [name]Clyde[/name].

6

There is not really much else to say now after [name]Blade[/name]'s excellent and humorous post, so this is just a thank you for so clearly articulating the meaning of “hipster name.”

7

[name]Blade[/name] just made me wish I could like a Nameberry post. Because I would like that one so hard. Not only is it hilarious, it is deadly accurate.

Many names that start out as hipster or yupster names become trendy, either via celebrities or just by saturating neighborhoods in Manhattan and San [name]Francisco[/name] ([name]Jack[/name], [name]Lily[/name], [name]Milo[/name], [name]Violet[/name].) I was living in SF and was at a park in Nob [name]Hill[/name] (super rich area) when I heard a dad call his daughter [name]Harriet[/name] and I was like, “Yyyyeah.”

I know a hipster who named twin sons [name]Sequoia[/name] and Sycamore. I WISH I were making that up. I also know a hipster who named her daughter [name]August[/name] [name]Athena[/name], which is kind of awesome. And another - my roommate in SF, actually - with a now teen daughter called [name]Star[/name] [name]Anna[/name].

I try to avoid hipsters, myself, and names that feel super hipster to me, I have to stay away from. I mourn for [name]Agatha[/name], but alas…

8

I think the Becketts, Calders, and Willas generally belong to hipsters.

I live in DC, and here, most people are earnest policy wonks, and don’t think their kids will be able to earn a living being artsy. Thus, they may live downtown, wear the hipster glasses, and go to concerts, but their kids are still [name]Henry[/name] and [name]Ava[/name].

9

I don’t get hipster names either. I like [name]Arthur[/name], [name]Felix[/name], [name]Hugo[/name], [name]Inigo[/name], [name]Leopold[/name], [name]Oscar[/name], [name]Quentin[/name], [name]Theo[/name], [name]Isla[/name], [name]Lucia[/name], [name]Matilda[/name], [name]Maude[/name], [name]Romy[/name] and [name]Violet[/name] (and several more, which means that I like quite a lot of hipster names) and I don’t consider myself hipster at all. We have Danish hipster too though and currently their name preferences are something like [name]Aksel[/name], [name]Noah[/name], [name]Gustav[/name], [name]Nor[/name] and [name]Bertram[/name] for boys and [name]Johanne[/name], [name]Alma[/name], Smilla, [name]Merle[/name] and [name]Alba[/name] for girls.

10

LOL, thanks for the chuckle! Apparently I like Hipster names too! Oh well, so be it.