This 2025 baby name trend swaps first names for surnames: Parents are starting to explore

This naming convention isn’t as backward as it seems.Choosing surnames as first names for newborns is a growing trend among parents, according to baby name experts.“Many surnames are so well established in our first-name culture that we don’t even think of them as surnames at all,” Namerology founder Laura Wattenberg told Today.“You can find examples across the generations.”For instance, she pointed to Milton and Irving, which were popular in the 1910s, or Warren and Wallace, which cropped up in the ’30s.In the ’50s, Glenn, Stewart, Curtis and Wayne were trendy, and by the time the 1990s came around, Courtney, Taylor and Kelsey were all hits.Today, surnames that are beginning to become common first names include Cash, Davis, Everly, Quinn and Wells, while monikers Wattenberg predicts will eventually morph into first names are Kingsley, Beck, Sterling and Slade.“I expect to see parents start to explore names with a more gentlemanly throwback style, like Montgomery, Shepard and Jennings,” she said.

“Also look for more curt one-syllable names like Locke, Holt and Penn.”She’s also seen an increase in “rock ‘n’ roll” monikers, like Jagger, Hendrix and Lennon.“Some of the hottest rising surname styles today are surnames ending in ‘S’ like Collins, Brooks, and Hayes,” Wattenberg continued.“Also, names ending in unusual letters like ‘W,’ as in Harlow and Winslow, or ‘X’ such as, Lennox and Knox.”Sophie Kihm, a baby name expert at Nameberry, recently predicted that Millennial and Gen X monikers are “unfashionable.”“Ashley, Heather, Megan, Ellen — names that were popular with this generation of moms,” she explained.

“For boys Clayton, Justin, Preston and Danny feel a bit older.”The shift in naming trends comes as grade schoolers arrive in the classroom with extremely unique monikers — much to the chagrin of some parents.One Redditor revealed a list of their child’s classmates, which included names li...