Armed America (courtesy telegraph.co.uk)

“In 2002, only 194 babies were named Colt,” the dailybeast.com reports, “while in 2012 there were 955. Just 185 babies were given the name Remington in 2002, but by 2012 the number had jumped to 666.” Uh-oh. “Perhaps the most surprising of all, however, is a jump in the name Ruger’s (America’s leading firearm manufacturer) from just 23 in 2002 to 118 in 2012 . . . In 1999, Gunner ranked 739th on the list of the Official Social Security site’s 1000 most popular names for boys—by 2012 it jumped to 293rd. Remington, for both girls and boys, spiked in the last few years as well, starting at 731st place in 1999 and jumping to 421nd a decade later. In 2012 alone, approximately 1,607 babies per million were named Colton—a peak high for the name.” Would you name a child after a gun or gunmaker? Have you? And OK, yes, if my dog wasn’t such a bitch I would have called her Ben for Benelli. [h/t DB]

153 COMMENTS

  1. In my family, our pets were named after philosophers and astronomers. My father named me after a philosopher as well. I named my son after a philosopher. We like philosophies, logic, and reason, and we like to defend them with firearms.

    • My 19 month old son’s name is also Barrett. Wanted a strong sounding name and when the wife saw it in a gun magazine, she was sold. Lot of positive comments from random people when they hear his name.

  2. I’d name a kid Ruger, guess what his first gun would be?

    That’s right, an M&P 15-22.

    I’d also name a Blood Hound Winchester.

    • Could call him Wesson but everybody would think you were talking about the vegetable oil and were kinky.

    • Would it be impolitic to point out that the majority of the guns being discussed as possible names for children were themselves first named after their designers/manufacturers?

  3. I thought “Savage Uberti” would be a great boys name and you could call him “Bersa” for a nickname. For a girl the best female sounding name I can think of at this moment is “Hernia”.

  4. I don’t think I’d want to saddle my child with Česká Zbrojovka Uherský Brod or any part of it; no one would ever, ever pronounce or spell it right until/unless they went to Eastern Europe on vacation.

  5. I can see naming a kid after a revolutionary. Thomas if you want him to be a thinker; Benjamin if you want him to be a diplomat; maybe Morgan if you’d rather see your kid grow up to be an out and out brawler.

  6. A dog, yes. A bull, absolutely. Horse, freaking cool. Your child, hell no!

    It’s kind of like the white version of LaQuanda, Shanequa, or Deshawndre…

    It’s basically condemning your child to being looked upon as a stereotype.

  7. Remington could be Remington Steel from the old TV show. But why would it have taken so long to catch on. I think your on to something, Robert.

  8. Used to be a guy around here named
    Winchester sharps colt spencer III.
    And I may be leaving one out.

  9. Well, my son is John, but depending on my mood I could tell people he was named for John Browning, or John Surtees, or John Glenn, etc. John Browning is, of course my favorite, but his middle name isn’t Moses.

  10. My family is apparently the hipsters of gun people (doing it before it was cool). I had an uncle named chautchaut, but he was kinda useless

  11. I won’t name my child or my dogs after gun manufacturers for the same reason I generally don’t name my guns or other weapons. Chiefly, that names such as that need to be earned through character and performance. Certainly I hope that my daughter will be reliable and true, that my dogs will be tough and ready when called upon but as a baby or pup they have not been tested and tried to show the proof so they can’t bear the name.

  12. If you want your child to be

    Lazy, not work: Jennings Keltec

    An Indian: Baby Eagle

    Chinese: XIX XI

    A know it all, but you still love him away and this is not an ad hominem attack: nutnfancy

    On a side note, no way would I call my child Remington. I bought the 597 based on a TTAG review and had nothing but trouble with the gun or Rem. customer service. It would be consigning my boy to a lifetime of ridicule.

    • Don’t name your kid Hi-point unless you want him/her to be overweight and cheap with a questionable reputation.

  13. “Remy” for Remington (that’s how I refer to them)? Whinny for Winchester?

    Samuel? Henry?

    A friend-of-a-friend, who’s a fan of the A-Team, named his first kid so that his first and middle initials are B.A.

  14. My kids first initials are AR and AK.
    And my wife named ’em. Quite by accident, but I tell my wife she’s a closet gun-nut.

  15. It ticks me off when parents name their baby girl, a boys name.
    The TV series “Wild West Alaska” The gun stores teenage sales gal is named “Fred” only they spell it “Phred”. I think her girl friend’s name is Larry, but don’t know how it’s spelled.
    I suppose one of these days were going to hear about an up coming male movie actor named “Patricia”, or “Elizabeth” God forbid!

  16. yeah my son will be named “advanced armament” and my daughter “primary weapons systems”

    my cat is named mazda. and his sister (went feral, rip) was named ariel (ariel atom)

  17. I wanted to name my son Scorpion after Vz. 61 but it was vetoed by my bushmast.. I mean wife. Damn you Ralf!

    • I’m not sure I’ve seen a “little pistol” called uzi. Maybe you should have called him Springfield.

  18. Once met a girl named Kimber Winchester. If she’d also been into guns I would’ve courted her like nobody’s business, but she wasn’t really my type and the name was a coincidence only.

  19. The day I name one of my kids after a product or company–*any* product or company is the day you all collectively have my permission to kick me in the nuts.

    Pets are fair game though.

  20. I’m glade my folks didn’t name me the same name as my father. I’d hate to go through life with Junior tacked on the end of my name.
    “The Third” is even worse!
    I guess I should be happy they didn’t name me after my mother!…………………Flossy!

  21. It’s a tidge late for that; my daughter’s 25, and I got snipped the month after she was born.

    She’s always been kinda coltish, though…

  22. No, and furthermore HELL no. IF I ever get married and have kids (hopefully in that order) that’s not going to happen. I haven’t given much thought to the matter but I”m not naming my kid after a brand name ANYTHING. That’s the kind of thing that ghetto/trailer trash does.

    • If you’re not ghetto/white trash you shouldn’t be worried about “hopefully” getting things in the right order… Think about it.

  23. Rigby or Holland are both pretty good boy’s names (though in keeping with my roots I’d probably go with Simo, as in the Finnish sniper). Norma or Kriss for a girl.

  24. Sounds trashy. I worked with a girl who named her sons Dodge and Diesel. I also know of dudes named Tylenol, Shith-ead, and Lemonjello…

    I would name my kids KSG and Rhino60DS causes they don’t exist.

  25. If it’s a legitimate name you like or a name that has some serious significance to you, which happens also to be a firearms-related name, then that’s just coincidental and there’s nothing odd or unbecoming about it. If it’s not a legitimate first name in its own right, or if it is, but only in some other culture, and the only real reason you’ve chosen it is because it’s firearm related, then that’s pretty lame.

    A name like “Gunner” is great for many dogs and doesn’t make a half-bad nickname for a young man, but a first name for a boy? Ridiculous in this culture.

  26. Colt and Remington are last names. Maybe as a middle name sure. I’d name my kids John Moses, Horace, Daniel B or even Eliphalet

  27. And the ex freaked at the prospect of my grandson-to-be being named “Hunter”. 100% guaranteed truth.

  28. My middle name is Remington, I was born in 1985.

    It has served me well.

    My dad said he want to pick “Wolfgang” & I would have been cool with that too.

  29. I have four kids ages 5 -9 . Three girls and one boy. Their names are Chevy Danielle , Remington Brooke, Ruger( no middle), and Derringer Laraine . We soon be adding another and we are stuck between Beretta Sue. Decided if girl but boy name Benilli (something) and Wesson Kane !! Do yes we named all ours from guns and one truck

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