The idea of naming your kid after an Instagram filter is hot now because of some BabyCenter poll. But it is not new.
It was around last week. Did Becca's tweet broke BabyCenter's press release embargo?
how long do we think before people start naming their kids after instagram filters?
— becca (@becca_spall) November 27, 2015
Did Abby know 3+ weeks ago? Should you hire her as a millennial thinkfluencer to consult for your brand?
~I can totally see people from my generation naming their kids after Instagram filters~
— Abby Lucas (@AbbsLu_Lucas) November 10, 2015
Or maybe she just OH'd the idea from Lindsey the week before:
Have people started naming their kids after Instagram filters yet?
— Lindsey Golden (@weare_golden) November 2, 2015
uh-oh, shit just got real in August over in Nikita's timeline:
Bitches these days be naming their kids after Instagram filters
— Nikita PriceBennouri (@NikitaBennouri) August 30, 2015
Before it was a momtrend, was Instagram-filter-babynaming the slutshaming of its day?
I swear, girls these days are gonna start naming kids after Instagram filters.
— Connie Tan (@connieetann) August 6, 2015
Oh crap, this whole pseudo-viral thing's been orchestrated by self-conscious selfie-taking ad execs and publicists:
But no, it's older than that, at least the idea is:
Ludwig, Aden, Willow... It's settled: I am naming all of my children after Instagram filters.
— Jordan P (@foodsweatnbeers) January 30, 2015
And so is the joke about naming the kid X-Pro II.
It often comes back to shade, though [which, tbh, is kind of a cool baby name]:
She got soo many kids, she started naming them after instagram filters.
— Casey Estrada (@extrabasecase) August 20, 2014
A lot of this in 2014 was directed at "lightskin women" or worse, "white girls":
Lol RT @JackDevero: Lol RT @Pimp_KB: Lightskin women are naming their kids after instagram filters.
— ♥♡ Neema ♡♥ (@Intoxibella_Em) July 29, 2014
White girls be naming their children after Instagram filters
— sosa (@69hunna) December 10, 2013
The earliest tweet I could find about naming your kid after Instagram filters was from 2012. But despite the existence of Willow Smith, has anyone ever asked if maybe they aren't naming Instagram filters after kids instead?
Actually, in 2013, Mike Isaac did some actual reporting on where Instagram got its first batch of video filter names for the now-defunct tech blog AllThingsD. Stinson and Moon were both dogs of Instagram staffers; Vesper was a favorite cocktail, and the rest were the team's favorite Bay Area placenames. [Plus Brooklyn.]
In other words, Instagram staffers are pulling filter names out of the same cultural pot other plugged in millennials are getting their pet and baby names from: which makes me wonder if they have filters instead of kids.