This Aggressive Baby Name Trend Is Seriously “Alarming” Experts

According to the experts, various factors are driving this baby name trend.

“There’s a certain set of parents that believe weapons-inspired names have a renegade spirit, which has been a rising theme among today’s trendy baby names,” Kihm noted. “Maverick ranks higher than ever, and cowboy-style names like Dutton, Stetson and Boone are climbing the charts.”

So, many parents may be thinking of weapon names in the same way as cowboy-related ones.

“It’s easy to imagine Boone and Wesson or Shooter and Stetson being brothers,” Kihm said.

Another potential influence is that many weapon-related names resemble ― or in fact are ― surnames as well.

“‘Last names as first names’ are a stylish category for baby names, with English surnames most likely to be adopted as given names,” Kihm explained. “Popular last names as first names include Carter, Parker and Hunter — itself somewhat aggressive ― which match weapon names like Shooter, Trigger and Dagger, with the two syllables and ‘er’ endings.”

Similarly, Wesson sounds a lot like Weston, which has recently ranked among the SSA’s top 100 baby names for boys.

For some parents, the appeal of such names may also be tied up in conservative values around gender or guns.

BabyNames.com founder Jennifer Moss believes some parents are drawn to weapon names for their sons because they feel “threatened” by recent cultural shifts toward broader acceptance of gender identities and expressions outside the traditional gender binary.

“Assigning these overly violent names might be a reaction to the fear that their son might have less-than-masculine traits,” she said. “So these parents assign a dictionary word name that has been traditionally associated with aggression or strength, hoping to instill those characteristics into their male offspring.”

“Weapons-inspired names convey masculinity without being traditional male names,” Kihm added. “They are at once undeniably masculine and extremely modern. We associate weapons with men and masculinity, so these parents might have more conservative values around gender.”

She pointed to Nameberry’s analysis of “The Reddest and Bluest Baby Names,” which found that parents living in so-called red states are more likely to choose gun-themed names for their children.

“In our study, we identified Gunner ― notably spelled with an ‘er,’ which differentiates it from the Scandinavian Gunnar ― as the ninth ‘reddest’ name for boys in the U.S.,” Kihm said.

Parents in red states are also known to choose names that evoke romanticized imagery of rural life, which can include farming occupations and weaponry. There’s a general interest in names that signal strength and independence as well.

“Some of the most obvious choices are clearly more popular in red states,” Sandel said. “Think Maverick or Walker ― the fictional Texas lawman of television fame. That’s true for weapons-related names, too. You’re more likely to meet a newborn Remington or Gatlin in Texas or Alabama, rather than California or Maryland.”

What do baby name experts think of this trend?