Naming Babies After IKEA Furniture Is The New Hipster Trend

If you're not sold on the idea of naming your child after a '90s pop culture icon or giving them a gender-neutral moniker, two of the most popular baby name trends of the year so far, then let us introduce you to the latest – and definitely the strangest – potential source of baby-name inspiration of 2018.

According to parenting website BabyCentre, mums and dads-to-be shouldn't be above scouring the IKEA catalogue. "Naming your baby after IKEA furniture might seem ridiculous at first glance, but don’t dismiss the idea!" writer LucyBC urged in a recent blog post.

"IKEA is known for the charming Scandinavian names it gives its products and many work surprisingly well as baby names." Some are even gender neutral, she says, and could work equally well for a baby girl or boy, so you can kill two baby name trends with one stone. How handy.

• Malm
• Tarva
• Stefan
• Ivar
• Tobias
• Stig
• Franklin
• Ingo
• Fredde
• Sommar
• Norna
• Cilla
• Malinda
• Elly
• Henrika
• Johanne
• Mata
• Mydal

If none of these appeal, you could even name your sprog after a piece of baby paraphernalia from the store. Opting for a baby Lättsam (baby bath), Lilla (potty) or Gonatt (cot) would save both time and energy and really, er, set him or her apart from the crowd.

If that idea doesn't take your fancy, why not go full-on millennial and look towards the brand's new OMEDELBAR wellness collection for inspiration? Baby Hjärtelig, anyone?

While there's no data to suggest how many – if any – new parents would consider naming the apple of their eye after a swivel chair (Bleckberget) or set of kitchen utensils (Direkt), if the popularity of other Scandinavian names – and all things Scandi, for that matter – is anything to go by, there's a good chance it's something people might actually do. And who are we to judge?

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