Naming babies for a living may sound so simple to some, but Taylor A. Humphrey asserts otherwise. To her, there's more to her job than what people assume.
In 2021, New York University-graduate Humphrey named over 100 children, as reported by The New Yorker.
Price-wise, Humphrey can generate a "bespoke name list" for $1,500 based on a questionnaire filled out by parents, while names that will be on-brand with a parents' business cost $10,000 per profile.
Humphrey started her career as a professional baby namer in 2015 when she created her Instagram account, named "What's in a Baby Name."
Love of Baby Names Turned Into a Full-fledged Business
According to People, she just wanted to share her love of baby names during that time. Little did she know that it was the start of her account blossoming into a full-fledged business.
Today, Humphrey uploads videos on Instagram about helpful meditations on name regret and the right time to think about names, including answers to specific questions like "Top 5 Boys Names to go with Calliope."
On the side, she also works as a doula and offers Reiki sessions.
Humphrey believes that parents already know what to pick or name their children, but they also need a little help sometimes.
This 33-year-old baby namer said that her work is so much deeper and more nuanced than some people think. She argues that her job is to hold space and provide spiritual, emotional, and physical support for her clients. In everything that she is expected to do, she does it with the desire of progressing clients through their major life transition of becoming a parent.
"While I offer name expertise, my work centers on supporting the expectant parent and leading them back to their inner place of wisdom and intuition," she adds.
Names are About How Well it Suits the Child Who Bears it
She has built her business on the premise that parents already know the right answer, she told Upworthy. One time, a client reached out because the name they chose was too close to the name of a colleague's child. In that featured post, Humphrey suggested Stellan be their child's name.
She said, "Stellan is a great alternative to Soren on her profile. I think of shooting stars." However, the client found the name to be sounding a lot like Stalin, so they decided against it.
When asked about her dream clients, Humphrey said that it would be Britney Spears and Elon Musk.
She has a lot of clients who request her service for their third or fourth kid, but commonly, these parents think that they're out of names. Sometimes, parents think that they have already exhausted their options, so they seek out her services.
According to her, it is essential to remember that what makes a good name is not your opinion of that name but how well it suits the child who bears it.
