Finding that perfect name for your baby takes some effort. You take into consideration family names, fictional characters you’ve loved since childhood, even geography, religion, whichever names your friends haven’t used yet. And of course you have to consider what sounds good and expresses the unique relationship that created your bundle of joy. You are unique and so is your baby. You remember the days of too many Samanthas, Katies, and Jessicas in every class, when every 6th boy was named Josh, and you know we must forsake such practices so that your child knows from day one who they are.
Well, Minnesota has a solution for you. I give you the top Hipster Baby Names that are Also Cities in Minnesota, ranked:
- Chaska
She wants none of your shit today. She knows exactly who she is and what she wants, and she’s not afraid to tell you that carrots are gross and mommy looks tired. - Edina
Sweetness incarnate. Everyone she ever meets will ask her where she’s from, and most won’t believe the answer. - Anoka
Anoka knows how to get woke-a. - Afton
Sweet summer child, wind, and wisp, Afton is a poet, a sensitive soul, who probably won’t publish anything but will spend their free time at local poetry workshops working on purple prose. Afton will use words like “stentorious” and “arbitrarily” incorrectly at the age of six. - Eagan
This baby is definitely wearing a bespoke onesie by six months. - Blaine
It’s almost Blake and almost Blaire but it isn’t quite either. Rest assured, your child will constantly smell like vanilla and the tears of the innocent. - Duluth
Boy or Girl, Duluth will love jumping in a pile of leaves in the fall and reading books on economic theory by flashlight in the closet. - Albert Lea
It’s almost a normal name, but those three extra letters are a real curveball, as will be your little slugger. - Eveleth
Not your grandma’s first name. But it could be, and that’s the point. - Minneapolis
Minne, for short, will have an ongoing complex about being named after a major city, but somebody’s got to break the ice. This complex will eventually lead to them going by their middle name or embracing Wicca. - Hinkley
Hinkley will always have a sophisticated rustic charm, leading to the establishment of the American version of a British, dying aristocracy. Hinkley will skip the glory days and go straight to defending the antiquated ways of wealthy country folk who have been on the land for generations. - Hastings
Typically a family name, young Hastings Phillips will often confuse his teachers as they attempt to call him Phil Hastings. Nonetheless, his name will always have a nice ring to it, dignified, said quickly, but never rushed. - Hibbing
Hibbing was born a child of the earth, and never gets over wearing overalls. - Owatonna
On second thought, Owatonna was an actual Sioux princess, so don’t name your child after her unless you are really, verifiably Sioux or someone who is Sioux has naming rights to your first born. - Minnetonka
Minnetonka means “great water,” so expect to change more than the usual number of diapers.
Honorable mentions that are a) actually people names or b) should be people names:
- Winona
- Bethel
- Mora
- Bemidji
- Cloquet
- Chanhassen
- Isanti
- Saint Paul (pronounced: sin pl)
- Zumbrota
- Welch (pronounce with a hard ch)
- Hopkins
- Mankato
- Mazeppa
- Eyota
- Walbo/Dalbo
Names that will make you child sound like a member of the British Aristocracy, but ironically. Every one of these kids has a pair of suspenders and no fewer than 4 tweed jackets by 12 months. You, as their parents, are obligated to end or begin your sentences with “my dear boy” when speaking to them, regardless of gender:
- Rochester
- Lanesboro
- Ostrander
- Brainerd
- Bloomington
- Woodbury
- Hazelton
- Winsted
- Blakeley
- Vermillion
- Lewiston
- Rushford
- Andover
- Brunswick
- Monticello
Next week: A list of hipster baby names that are also lakes in Minnesota.
An Indomitable Grace 