How Fashion Labels Shape Baby-Naming Trends
By Allee Manning and Kaitlyn Kelly
Anyone who’s been following New York Fashion Week knows a designer with enough cache can inspire consumers to wear virtually anything, but it takes an special brand of dedication to take such admiration to baby-naming levels. Even the upper echelon of the fashion world have refrained from giving their super-stylish children such obvious monikers. Yet according to Social Security data, fashion label-inspired names have come in vogue in recent years.
From 2010-2014, nearly 5,000 little baby Armani’s of both sexes were spawned. While traditional names like Calvin have likely been able to retain popularity independent of designer Calvin Klein, it’s just as possible that some of these correlations are direct. For example, the growth of the up-and-coming brand Zara coincides with a recent rise in the popularity of the name. While the name meaning “princess” has been part of the Hebrew vernacular for centuries, who’s to say that super-stylish new parents weren’t choosing to honor the mid-price clothing store?
Other gender-neutral options like Cartier (which means “cart driver” in French) have also risen in popularity in recent years. Here’s hoping these kids are able to live up to their big names.
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