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baby business
I charge up to $30k to name other people’s babies – I’m still shocked by some of the choices
THESE days, people will pay for anything, including a service that helps them choose a baby name.
In fact, one woman turned her passion for understanding the meaning behind baby names into a full-time job that can make her up to $30K a name.
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, 33, began her journey back in 2015 when she started sharing her favorite baby names and their meanings on social media.
"I found there was a very high engagement considering how few followers I had," she told The Sun in an exclusive interview.
"When I began posting on Instagram, people were coming to me about their love for names.
"I was always a name nerd, so I was very surprised there were a lot of us."
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From just sharing her favorite names, she then moved on to sharing the numerology behind them and lists of names.
Name numerology is based on understanding the unique qualities found in an analysis of your names.
"The name numerology within your name represents mental patterns of thought which stimulate your qualities of intelligence in particular ways," according to .
It was in these last two types of research that people began reaching out to her as an expert.
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"People were messaging me and asking me what they should name their babies," she revealed.
"I think there was something about seeing the lists and people would see their names and they would think that I could help them find names for their children that could go with the ones of the other kids they had.
"It was at that point when people were writing to me all the time. I was just so flattered and I was giving out the advice for free," she added.
A BUSINESS WAS BORN
But it wasn't until 2018, when Humphrey, who was studying to become a childbirth doula, knew that helping women with the baby naming process would be the way she could support them through this major life change.
"And that's when it switched for me, when I realized that I had a very niche skill and people were coming to me for it, so why not help women in this way?" she explained.
In 2018, she launched , where she describes herself as a "holistic and intuitive Baby Name Consultant and Doula offering bespoke naming services globally, and perinatal support in California and New York."
"Early on, my clients were a lot of first-generation Americans or they had immigrated here so their children were going to be first-gen and they wanted names that would honor their heritage while also their new start in America," she explained.
"They would need outside help. I find that the process of pregnancy in the modern age is that women are working up to a week before their due date so they’re not completely in tune with their bodies and there’s a lack of emotional attachment, especially the ones who have multiple babies. They’re just too busy.
"So there’s a sense of anxiety that they want to be more connected so I act as a guide for women to get back in touch with themselves and the little spirit that's growing inside them."
Humphrey offers a variety of services and packages on her website.
It can be as simple as her offering you a list of baby names based on a questionnaire you fill out to a much deeper, research-based job.
She also offers a full-service packages, where she can help you with anything you need in the process and "is limited only by your own imagination," per the website.
BEING OBJECTIVE
As one can imagine, suggesting names for expectant parents can turn subjective really quickly. And Humphrey revealed she dealt with this early on.
"I thought I had suggestions so good that I could predict what they’d choose," she revealed.
"There was a bit of ego involved. So I felt like I had command of this subject matter. I went down this rabbit hole and I thought I held the key to wisdom and I was the expert.
";That path really quickly changed for me and I’ve matured out of that mentality."
The moment that made her realize she was not in charge was when a couple told her they were choosing a specific name but later changed their child's moniker after it was born.
"I had a client who was considering a name and the name has a classic spelling and various alternatives," she detailed.
"They are Armenian and were concerned that their family wouldn’t be able to pronounce it based on the spelling and were considering an alternative.
"I had made it my mission at the time to get people to not use alternative spellings of these names and in this particular case, having the different spelling could have altered the pronunciation.
"So I gathered all this insight to convince them to use the classic spelling. And I was delighted when they told me that they had chosen the classical spelling when the baby was born.
"And at the time I felt like I was God’s gift to this baby because I saved them from a lifetime of misspelling their name."
But a year later, when that same baby was celebrating their first year, she discovered they had changed their name to the spelling they preferred at the beginning.
"And it was such a moment when everything switched for me and I realized it’s not about my personal preferences, it’s about what makes sense for the family.
"I had matured and I had this realization that this isn’t about me, I’m not the expert, I’m the guide."
THAT ONE TIME
But aside from being subjective, Humphrey has also had to deal with coming to terms with names she might have a negative perspective on and leaving all judgement behind.
The baby name consult explained that at one time, a woman came up to her and told her she was thinking of naming her first son Adolf.
He would have been Adolf V as it was a name that had been in the family for multiple generations.
"I have to separate my personal preferences from my job, because yeah, Adolf was a popular name before it was plunged into darkness by one individual," she revealed.
"In this case, this was a family name so how am I going to advise against such a powerful significance?
"So even me saying that I'd stay away from controversial names is not good because there are people who live with these names.
"There are no mistakes in baby naming, that's my mantra. What if your child is meant to change the meaning of the name they have? There is a chance for transmutation and I think that's really beautiful."
BABY NAME REGRET?
And despite Humphrey believing there are no mistakes in baby naming, that doesn't change that a lot of parents deal with baby name regret, just like Kylie Jenner recently experienced with her newborn son.
"Kylie Jenner changing her son's name brought all of this to the forefront and it's such an interesting phenomenon, and from what I'm seeing, it's rampant," the expert explained.
In fact, she's worked with clients who wanted to change their newborn's name to people who no longer feel like their three-year-old's given name fits them anymore.
She has one client whom she has been working with for over three years trying to come up with their child's brand new name.
WHY DOES NAME REGRET HAPPEN?
Aside from the typical answer that a child's name no longer fits them, Humphrey believes some of this regret comes from trauma.
"There are infinite reasons and there's also something that’s pervasive that’s underlining this and it’s all based on anxiety in making the right decision," Humphrey revealed.
"I’ve studied this and it feels like there is a lot of birth trauma behind it. Things may not have gone according to your plan, maybe you felt like you weren’t heard, but something happened during the process that went from an intense physiological event to psychologically traumatizing.
"A lot of women are dealing with postpartum depression and anxiety. And I wonder how much it is hormones and possibly PTSD from the birthing experience. And it can lead a lot of new moms to question their decision because it may have felt like it was the only thing they had control over."
In fact, many women can develop birth trauma after a particularly tough situation, including life-threatening complications.
It is even said that one in three women will suffer from birth trauma, according to .
THE THOUSAND DOLLAR QUESTION
Because Humphrey's services in helping expectant parents pick a name for their child are limitless, it can come at quite a price.
In fact, she revealed that her services start at $1,500, and depending on the scope of the job, they can go up to $30K.
"I will take up to three clients a month at a lower price point," she clarified, adding that she wants to support the women who need guidance and offer accessibility depending on financial needs.
But not all of her services come at a price. People can get inspiration for baby names off her Instagram account, which is free, as well as quizzes on her website, and videos on TikTok.
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People might even get name suggestions in videos on Instagram and TikTok Lives.
"Ultimately, what it comes down to, is me guiding parents to find the perfect name for their children, and that's what makes me happy," she concluded.
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