Professional Baby Namer Charges Parents $30K To Name Their Kids
She's living the dream
Prostock-studio | Shutterstock San Francisco-based businesswoman Taylor Humphrey has made a name for herself, no pun intended, in the luxury baby-branding game. Humphrey, 37, has helped name more than 500 kids during her ten-year career as a professional baby namer, and according to the San Francisco Chronicle, charges up to $30,000 for her unique services.
In an age when your name can literally become your livelihood, thanks to social media, naming a baby isn't just choosing a moniker you like or that holds cultural or sentimental value anymore. For well-to-do parents, especially, a baby's name is a business, and to give their babies a leg up, they're willing to pay.
The professional baby namer can make up to $30,000 depending on a client's needs.
The cost of her service ranges from $1,500, which gets the client a one-on-one phone call with Humphrey, all the way up to $30,000, which includes options much more personal to the parents, like professional genealogists and brand managers.
“There’s a lot more to this job than people realize,” Humphrey, who was named after 1980s soap opera actress Taylor Miller, told the Chronicle. “Sometimes, I get calls from clients that are so urgent that I need to drop everything and help them right away.”
The professional baby namer does not have any children of her own despite her expertise.
Humphrey is an NYU grad who worked as a matchmaker, event planner, and fundraiser before founding her business in 2015. On her LinkedIn profile, she describes her services as a specialization in the "emotional, linguistic, and cultural power of naming." In her about section, she added, "My expertise in nomenclature, branding, and cultural trends has positioned me as a sought-after voice in media, with insights that resonate across industries and influence the broader conversation around language, identity, and legacy."
“My professional experiences in business development and marketing — as well as my knowledge of maternal care and passion for innovating and improving upon women’s healthcare make me a well-rounded candidate who can use my left brain to strategize and execute plans that are rooted in empathy, intuition, and creativity,” Humphrey wrote on LinkedIn.
Although she has no children of her own, Humphrey has made babies and everything that goes along with pregnancy her bread and butter. Not only does she offer support to couples before the baby comes, but she is also a trained doula. She's basically a self-proclaimed "name nerd" who knows a whole lot about having a baby, even if she has never gone through the experience personally.
Humphrey trusts her instincts when it comes to baby naming, but is also inspired by the world around her.
Andrea Piacquadio | Pexels
It probably helps that Humphrey would read baby name books for fun when she was just a girl, but she also finds inspiration in street signs, film credits, and the Social Security database.
By analyzing trends in these sources, she then provides the client with a list of names that she finds suitable, and the client picks their favorite one. But the true magic is when her instincts and the client's input come together for the perfect fit.
Humphrey said that she has long been fascinated by baby names, and she believes her business has allowed her to find her place in the world. “If you look at the most popular baby names, it’s such a telltale sign of our cultural values and our aspirations,” Humphrey told The New Yorker.
So, if you're expecting and can't decide on a name or are tired of having the same argument with your spouse about why you don't want to name your daughter after his mom, why not consider Humphrey's services? As she said herself, "while brokering deep-rooted disagreements between spouses on Zoom, she feels more like a mediator or therapist than a baby namer." And depending on the numbers in your bank account, maybe avoiding an argument while you're pregnant is worth the price tag.
Jonathan Alfano is a contributor to YourTango whose work focuses on news, entertainment, and professional sports topics.
