How popular is the baby name Baxter in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Baxter.

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Popularity of the baby name Baxter


Posts that mention the name Baxter

What’s it like to be named Baxter?

In a recent essay in LA Times Magazine, sportswriter Baxter Holmes explained what it’s like to be a Baxter:

Names are identifiers, but since they shadow our lives, we never give them much thought, just like we never think about how we walk or what we sound like breathing. I grew up in a small town in rural Oklahoma, where everyone knew everyone. Baxter was just what I was–nothing special.

So when asked to describe the essence of “Baxter,” I thought, When someone shouts it in a crowd, it’s my attention they’re trying for.

How did Baxter’s mother come up with his name?

When waddling around with me in her belly, she saw “Baxter” autographed on the cast of a friend of a friend’s broken arm. It was just what she was looking for, something distinct and distinguished. “I knew the minute I said it in my mind,” she says. “I loved the way it sounded.”

What are your thoughts on the name Baxter?

Source: “The Name” in LA Times Magazine (h/t to Nancy Friedman of Fritinancy for sending me the link!)

Baby name needed: What do you think of Phineas?

A reader named Virginia is expecting a baby in September. For a boy, she’d selected the name Phineas. She liked “that it was unusual without being bizarre,” and that it started with ph. But now she’s not so sure about the name:

All was fine and dandy until I read an article about violence in the Bible. It vaguely mentioned Phineas as a name from the Bible used as a talisman by white supremacists. What!?!

That was a shock to me too. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Phineas Priesthood is “a violent credo of vengeance that has gained some popularity among white supremacists and other extremists in recent years.” I’d never heard of the Phineas Priesthood before–not even when Julia Roberts named her son Phinnaeus a few years ago.

Virginia doesn’t want to give up her favorite name, but she also “can’t live with such an association,” so she was hoping for some name suggestions. Other names she’s considering include Joel and Samuel (for boys) and Sigrid, Phoebe, Elisabeth, and Anne (for girls). All are family names.

First, a few thoughts:

  • I doubt many people are aware that white supremacists use Phineas as a code word. It’s an odious association, but maybe it’s also obscure enough that it’s not worth worrying about…?
  • I really like Sigrid and Phoebe–they’re both significant and unusual. Especially Sigrid. (Phoebe is being used more and more every year, so it might not be unusual for long.)

And now, name suggestions. Here are some unusual-but-not-bizarre boy names that I think Virginia might like:

Amos
Barnabas
Baxter
Ephraim
Ezra		Felix
Horatio
Humphrey
Lazarus
Matthias		Maximilian
Moses
Peregrine
Ralph
Raphael		Rufus
Silas
Simeon
Ulysses
Zephaniah

And some girl names:

Clotilde
Cybele
Daphne
Dagny
Delphine		Drusilla
Esther
Fabiola
Georgia
Josephine		Lucretia
Ophelia
Penelope
Phyllis
Ruth		Salome
Seraphina
Talulla
Tryphena
Verena

What other names would you suggest to Virginia? (And, what’s your take on the Phineas dilemma?)

Update: The baby has arrived! Click here to learn the baby’s name.

Baby names you can type with one hand: Carter, Tessa, John, Poppy

computer keyboard

When you sign your first name, you use one hand. But when you type it, chances are you need to use both hands — even if your name is a short as Emma, Gus or Ty.

Have you ever wondered which names can be touch-typed on the standard QWERTY keyboard with one hand only? Me too, so I came up with some lists…

Left-handed baby names

  • Ace, Ada, Adeva, Aeta, Afra, Aqsa, Ara, Arda, Ardra, Artra, Asa, Astra, Astraea, Astrea, Atef, Ava, Awa, Aza, Azeeza, Azza
  • Babette, Barbara, Barrett, Baxter, Bess, Bette, Brad, Brett
  • Cade, Caesar, Cara, Carter, Casara, Case, Cass, Cedar, Ceres, Cesar, Cresta
  • Dara, Dasza, Dave, Dawes, Dax, Deatra, Debra, Dee, Dessa, Dexter, Drew
  • Ece, Ed, Edgar, Edward, Eevee, Efe, Egas, Erva, Esta, Estes, Etta, Eva, Eve, Everard, Everett, Evette, Eze, Ezra
  • Fedde, Freeda, Fred, Fredda
  • Gage, Garret, Garrett, Gerard, Grace, Greg, Greta, Grete, Gretta
  • Rafer, Rava, Rebeca, Rebecca, Reece, Reed, Reese, Retta, Reva, Rever, Rewa, Rex
  • Sabra, Sada, Sade, Safaa, Sagar, Sage, Sara, Saras, Sardar, Stassa, Steve, Stewart, Svea, Sverre, Sveva
  • Tad, Tage, Taggart, Ted, Tara, Tate, Tera, Teresa, Tess, Tessa, Tex, Trace, Tracee, Trava
  • Vada, Varda, Varvara, Vera, Verree, Vesta, Vester
  • Wade, Wafa, Ward, Wes
  • Xerra, Xerxes
  • Zada, Zara, Zed, Zera

How funny is it that Dexter, which comes directly from the Latin word for “right,” is typed with the left hand only?

Right-handed baby names

  • Holli, Holly
  • Io
  • Jill, Ji-Min, Jim, Jimi, Jimmy, Jin, Jo, John, Johnny, Jon, Joni, Joy, Juho, Juli, Julio, Jun, Juni, Juno
  • Kiki, Kiko, Kilik, Kim, Kimi, Kimiko, Kimmy, Kimo, Kin, Kip, Kipp, Kippy, Kiyoko, Kiyomi, Kojo, Kollin, Kumiko, Kuuipo, Kyou
  • Lili, Lilly, Lilou, Lilikoi, Lily, Lin, Lino, Loki, Loni, Lonny, Lou, Lulu, Lumi, Lyn, Lynn
  • Miki, Mikki, Mikko, Milly, Milo, Mimi, Min, Minh, Minokimin, Miyu, Molly, Momoko
  • Nik, Nikhil, Niki, Nikki, Niko, Nikol, Nikon, Niilo, Nolon, Nuno
  • Olli, Olujimi, Om
  • Phil, Philip, Phillip, Philo, Pio, Pliny, Plum, Pol, Polly, Pono, Poppy
  • Umiko, Umu
  • Yoko, Yuko, Yumi, Yumiko

I realize that QWERTY “handedness” is not a major baby-naming factor for most people, but I do think it would be cute to pair a one-handed name with another one-handed name — maybe a surname (Teresa Garza, Phillip Hill) or a twin name (Edward & John, Grace & Lily, Zara & Milo). What do you think?

Image: Adapted from Apple Macintosh Plus Extended Keyboard by MagicTom13 under CC BY-SA 3.0.