'Names for your baby when he isn't a Wolf': Popular baby name site shares suggestions for Kylie Jenner
Just shy of two months after giving birth to their son, Kylie Jenner announced this week that she and partner Travis Scott had changed their minds about the baby boy's name.
"FYI our son's name isn't Wolf anymore," she wrote in her Instagram story. "We just really didn't feel like it was him. Just wanted to share because I keep seeing Wolf everywhere."
Related video: Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott say their son is no longer named Wolf
Nameberry, a baby name website dedicated to helping parents name their children, chimed in with a well-timed Instagram post suggesting some alternative names for Jenner's son. Among their suggestions: Arrow, Lynx, Timber, Steele and Stone.
While some social media users thought Wolf was a wild name to begin with, according to Sophie Kihm, senior editor at Nameberry, "Kylie actually has pretty normal taste in baby names by Hollywood standards."
Kihm cites Jenner's daughter's name — Stormi — as a relatively tame but still "intense" choice. "She likes names that are unique but kind-of-established and Wolf definitely fit the bill," she says of the reality television star's baby name choices. "It's a traditional name but it feels very modern."
When creating the list of suggestions for a new name, Kihm considered something a little softer or more common. One rumor is that Kylie will name her son Jack, riffing off Travis Scott's given name, Jacques."
"[Kylie] does like names with a nature connection, like her daughter Stormi, so we thought maybe something like Steele or Stone or Timber — like a timberwolf — might be on her mind," says Kihm. "Scout is a name that ranks higher for girls, but I don't think that matters much to Kylie: It feels like Stormi and Scout could be siblings."
Kihm says parents usually fall on one side of the naming spectrum or the other — either choosing a definite name before the baby is born or having a shortlist of names they'll choose from once their baby arrives. "Some parents just like to be more intuitive in the process and want to meet their baby first," she says. "This works particularly well if you have a few names that rank equally high in your minds."
Kihm says "name regret" isn't common, but it can happen. According to a BabyCenter survey, only 11% of parents regretted the name they chose for their child. The most common reason for wishing they'd chosen another name? Because the name became too popular. Other reasons for baby name remorse included frequent mispronunciation and the name not fitting the child's personality, which Jenner cited as her reasoning.
"In most cases, your baby grows to fit their name," Kihm explains, "but if you have serious name regret, you absolutely should go ahead and change it."
Each state has different laws surrounding changing your baby's name, but most allow between six and 12 months after birth for the change to be relatively easy. In California, where Jenner and Scott reside, the process includes filling out a form, submitting it to the court and then making your case to a judge to petition for the birth certificate to be updated.
As far as Jenner's final pick, Kihm says it’s a toss-up.
"There's a lot of pressure on celebrities when it comes to naming their children," says Kihm. "Especially in her family, there might be pressure to choose a name that's kind of 'out there' or something that makes a real statement. But in Kylie's case, it might make more of a statement to choose something unexpected, like a really 'normal' name."
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