Decades ago, you wouldn’t have been able to guess that “X Æ A-Xii” and “Methamphetamine Rules” are names. Baby names have always been creative, but some people have ventured into outlandish names, whether for the better or for the worse.
According to University of Michigan Evolutionary Biologist Mitchell Newberry, parents picking unusual baby names is an evolutionary trend. He found that the more popular a name becomes, the less likely future parents are to follow suit.
Newberry studies frequency-dependent selection. This is a kind of natural selection in which copying stems from popularity, regardless of what the content being copied is.
If people stay on trend and copy, almost everyone does the same. If people don’t copy, variety occurs.
Newberry used this information to research the Social Security Administration baby name database, started in 1935, to analyze first names in the United States.
According to the Michigan news, “He found that when a name is most rare – 1 in 10,000 births – it tends to grow, on average, at a rate of 1.4% a year. But when a name is most common – more than 1 in 100 births – its popularity declines, on average, at 1.6%.”
He concluded in his studies that conformity is necessary to society, but so is anticonformity. An example of this being that if we all had the same immune system, we’d all be susceptible to the same diseases.
Looking into peculiar names, Australian journalist Kirsten Drysdale put the Births, Deaths and Marriages register to a test.
With the birth of her third child, she submitted her son’s name as “Methamphetamine Rules” to the New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
“We thought we would submit the most outrageous name we could think of, assuming it would be rejected,” she said. “But it didn’t turn out that way – unfortunately Methamphetamine Rules slipped through the cracks.”
Elon Musk and Grimes are a good example of parents who chose unusual baby names. Their kids are Techno Mechanicus, or “Tau” for short, Exa Dark Sideræl, or “Y” and X Æ A-Xii, or “X.”
Musk and Grimes aren’t the only celebrities who opted to name their children unique names. Cardi B and Offset named their child Kulture Kiari, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian named their kids North, Saint and Chicago and Ed Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn named their daughter Lyra Antarctica.
While The Advance-Titan staff doesn’t have the most atypical names, they still have stories behind how they got their names.
Co-Sports Editor Nolan Swenson is the only political science major on the A-T staff.
“I was the only child [in my family] not named after a president,” Swenson said. “Ironic, as I am the only one politically inclined.”
It’s rumored that Co-Sports Editor Jacob Link spent up to three days in the hospital without a name until his grandma walked in and said “He looks like a Jacob.”
Copy Desk Chief Kyiah Nelson’s name comes from a variation of Kia, a name of African origin.
“The name means ‘season’s beginning,’ which is relevant because I was born on the first day of fall,” Nelson said.
Arts & Entertainment Editor Mattie Beck said she got her name after her dad had a dream where his grandmother told him to name his daughter Madeline – her full name.
News Editor Anya Kelley was named after an Aveda model. The name Anya means grace and a gift from God, which felt special to her mom when choosing a name.
My words of advice, be a bit cautious about what you name your child. If you had that name, would you like it or hate it? Kids are ruthless and bullying is no fun.
Kindergarten might be a struggle if they can’t spell their own first name. While it’s good to be original, don’t make your kid’s life too difficult.
