There was a time, not all that long ago, that the term nerd was associated with smart kids with pencil protectors and taped-up glasses. But times have changed and nerd is no longer a put-down, it’s a badge of honor, so much so that one baby naming expert says “hot nerd” names are the latest trend.
“Being a nerd is cooler now,” explains baby name consultant Colleen Slagen. Think Adam Brody as Rabbi Noah Roklov in “Nobody Wants This,” or Mark Ruffalo as Matty Flamhaff from "13 Going on 30," and you get what she means. These are some of the top “hot nerd” boy names Slagen recommends, and the personality traits she imagines go with them.
- Dexter, Calvin, Ambrose - “These guys are reading books but have pretty big muscles.”
- Clark, Spencer, Lyle - “These guys were wearing Crocs and socks before it was cool.”
- Marshall, Simon, Gideon - “These guys are confidently inviting you to the D&D party they host every Friday night.”
- Perry, Anson - “They were picked last in gym class, but they have six figures in their bank account from their online poker winnings.”
- Adrian - “He was invited to the party but instead spent the night reading a Reddit thread about AI.”
- Desmond - Instead of driving to work, he "takes his old Razor scooter to the Metro where he has a 1-hour long commute" in an "effort to reduce his carbon footprint."
Boy names aren’t the only ones in the “hot nerd” trend. Slagen also suggests “slightly unexpected vintage names” for girls with a “literary or academic vibe” that are “giving president of Model U.N.” Her picks for “hot nerd” girl names are:
- Amelia
- Betty
- Blythe
- Felicity
- Genevieve
- Maisie
- Penny
Source: Today