These were the ones I could think of. A lot of names are occupational-based, but I only included ones that I could think of that were still recognizable as occupations, even if they are ones that no one has as a job anymore like [name]Archer[/name] (not to offend any archers out there, if you do this for a job still…way cool!)
One that I noticed wasn’t in the top 1000 which I thought was weird was [name]Potter[/name]. I thought it would have been a part of this er ending occupation trend, especially with the [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] craze. Maybe the “pot” drug connection is turning off parents?
WDYT, about the trend, the names, and why [name]Potter[/name] hasn’t cracked top 1000 yet. [name]Will[/name] it ever be there? Would you use any of these names, have you used any of them? Can you think of any others?
Interesting question. Occupational names are very hot, especially since they tie in with surnames as first names (since many surnames were based on occupation). At this point the “er” names are just getting overused. [name]Parker[/name], [name]Hunter[/name], [name]Ryder[/name], [name]Tyler[/name], etc. There are a few fresh sounding ones left ([name]Archer[/name], [name]Miller[/name]). Some others that are in the top 1000:
[name]Carter[/name]
[name]Cooper[/name]
[name]Tanner[/name]
[name]Walker[/name]
[name]Chandler[/name]
[name]Harper[/name]
[name]Jagger[/name]
[name]Fisher[/name] (oddly, yes, it is in the top 1000)
[name]Fletcher[/name]
Re: [name]Potter[/name]. Interestingly, not only is [name]Potter[/name] not in the top 1000, it was given to less than five babies last year (as it doesn’t make the Beyond the top 1000 list), and I checked a few random years since the HP books were published and it’s never seemed to make the list. I can see a few reasons why. One is that it seems like a blatant [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] reference. Two is the “pot”/drugs connection. Three is that “Potty” would be the intuitive nickname, which would be torturous to anyone with the name.
I think the next round of occupational names will come in the form of those that do not end in “er” or those that are less common, like [name]Baker[/name], [name]Tucker[/name] or [name]Foster[/name]. Some I can think of are [name]Abbott[/name], [name]Deacon[/name], [name]Clark[/name], [name]Marshall[/name], and [name]Reeve[/name].
Another interesting one would be the name [name]Dancer[/name]. It isn’t my personal style, but I could see a dancer choosing this name for their child. I have a love for the arts,and have always appreciated and studied dance as a hobby(jazz, pom pom, hip hop, tap, modern, swing). An avid “dance lover” might feel comfortable using this name. I know there are people with the last name [name]Dancer[/name] too. Maybe a woman might pass along her maiden name of [name]Dancer[/name] to her first born…
[name]Porter[/name]? Hmm, I’ve never met anyone named [name]Porter[/name] …
My first thought with that name would be either a porter as in “hospital porter” or porter as in the alcoholic drink, stout. In fact, I’d probably think of the drink first, and I’d imagine that a lot of people would! It just seems a little strange to give your child the same name as an alcoholic beverage… kind of like calling your child Budweiser or Guinness or something. Although, I guess you can call a child [name]Brandy[/name] or [name]Chardonnay[/name]…
I don’t know, it still seems a bit odd to me. [name]Just[/name] my two cents!