Professional baby namer who started baby-naming as a side hobby now charges $250 for consultations

Naming your baby could be a tough gamble. Choosing a noun that is going to be used to personify your baby can be a daunting experience, especially when the possibilities are endless. Dilemmas and confusions are inevitable. To aid parents in this decision-making, Colleen Slagen (@namingbebe) comes to the rescue. It all started pretty young. Slagen was already naming babies as a child.

The TikTok user recalls poring over yearbooks and phonebooks in elementary school, making up fake families, and writing her favorite names in a journal for each letter of the alphabet. The 33-year-old mother of two, who also works as a part-time nurse practitioner, presently has a thriving baby-naming consultancy called Naming Bebe as well as a good following on TikTok with almost 50 thousand followers.

Slagen shared with Insider that she first dabbled in entrepreneurship last year while on maternity leave, offering her baby-naming services in a local mom-focused Facebook Group. Soon after, she began sharing her consultations on TikTok in order to expand the venture. Slagen names babies about 20 hours per week and has completed over 100 orders to date. She currently has a six-week wait for her services, but customers can pay extra for expedited delivery.

Despite continuing to work three days per week as a nurse practitioner, Slagen believes she could work as a full-time baby-namer today—or, at the very least, that it "would be possible in terms of demand." Explaining her process, Slagen shared that clients frequently request a name that matches an existing sibling, or they have strict syllable, letter and meaning parameters.

"There was a lot more interest than I expected," she said, "and then the business side of it just took off in terms of volume." She claims that the profession predates the digital age. Social media has increased people's excitement about choosing and revealing their baby names, as well as heightened their desire for unique ones. "It's definitely a pinch-me moment," Slagen said. "I really used to joke about, 'If I could do anything, I would name babies.' I never thought it would be a real thing."

During a recent request, a couple shared that they were looking for a "hot girl name with CEO energy" that would go well with their other daughter's name, Spencer. They also asked that it not be two syllables long and that it not end with a "n." Slagen offered the name "Sloane." "The ultimate hot girl CEO name," she said, calling it "swift and simple but strong and alluring." Her other suggestions included Conley ("Coco is a really cute nickname") and Elliot ("a classic-sounding boy name that feels very unexpected on a girl.")

Slagen uses Social Security's annual list of the most popular baby names to help parents avoid overused options. It also reveals interesting trends, according to Slagen, such as the popularity of names inspired by the TV show "Yellowstone" (such as Dutton and Kayce). Despite the fact that her company is still in its early stages, she receives a large number of requests each week, including some unusual and difficult ones. One client requested "dark, gothic names" with a "Game of Thrones" vibe, according to Slagen. She's also been asked to change a child's name, name a business and assist a couple in deciding on a new joint surname. Charges begin at $250 for a pre-recorded video with eight name suggestions or a written report with ten suggestions and analyses.

The latter is the most popular option but her most expensive package costs $400 and includes 30 baby name ideas. While it may appear to the uninitiated as an odd niche, Slagen says customers seek consultants because it allows them to bounce ideas off an objective third party. It also helps them keep the name concealed. She added, "I think I'm surprised just because it is such a personal thing and so to let somebody else in on that is very intimate and trusting." 

Slagen isn't the only one parents come to for help naming their babies. Humphrey, a 34-year-old New York University graduate, charges $10,000 to name a baby. She named more than 100 children in 2021 and put a lot of work into finding the right name, including having the parents fill out a questionnaire. The second option costs $10,000 and she selects a name that is "on-brand with a parent's business." Humphrey believes that all parents "already know" what name to choose, but it is her job to find names that include that name and present them to parents.

Some of the videos she posts cover topics like name regret, the best time to start thinking about baby names and even advice on name pairing. Humphrey began her career as a professional baby namer in 2015, when she launched the Instagram account "What's in a Baby Name." She began by simply sharing baby names, but it quickly grew into a full-fledged business.