Good grief .......

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Some parents draw baby name inspiration from sources like family history, geography or even their favorite foods and brands. Others look to literature, music and pop culture. Still others get ideas from a more surprising source: weapons.

"There is a small but noticeable trend of parents using weapons-inspired -- and, more broadly, aggressive -- names for their sons," Sophie Kihm, the editor-in-chief at the website Nameberry, told HuffPost. "Many of these names first appeared on the baby name charts in the 2000s, including Wesson, Caliber, Shooter and Trigger."

Weapon-inspired monikers that parents have chosen in recent years also include Blade and Cannon, as well as brand-related names like Remington, Colt, Ruger and Winchester. Arson, Cutter and Dagger are among the other names with a violent edge in recent data from the Social Security Administration.

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BabyNames.com founder Jennifer Moss believes some parents are drawn to weapon names for their sons because they feel "threatened" by recent cultural shifts toward broader acceptance of gender identities and expressions outside the traditional gender binary.

"Assigning these overly violent names might be a reaction to the fear that their son might have less-than-masculine traits," she said. "So these parents assign a dictionary word name that has been traditionally associated with aggression or strength, hoping to instill those characteristics into their male offspring."

"Weapons-inspired names convey masculinity without being traditional male names," Kihm added. "They are at once undeniably masculine and extremely modern. We associate weapons with men and masculinity, so these parents might have more conservative values around gender."

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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/weapon-baby-names-trend_l_66fc3db0e4b0d70dca9f58f9