Hunter

Like the look? Check out www.hunterbaby.com.au

I was having a bit of a play with the Baby Name Genie this evening and was very surprised when it came up with the combo of Hunter Craig when I put in my last name. Surprised, because Craig is my husband's name, so I guess that means the genie thinks his name was a good choice with his last name :) So would I consider actually using this name combination? Long story short - probably not. But Hunter does have a certain charm to it.

I think of Hunter as a boys name, and if you haven't been able to tell by my previous posts I tend to like strong names for boys. Hunter definitely falls into this category, mainly due to the associations people have with the word. Hunter is an English name that means 'one who hunts'. Some are put off the name because they find hunting and by extension the name Hunter to be violent and therefore an undesirable trait or image to be associated with. Yet Hunter remains a very popular name for boys - in 2011 it charted at #54 in America, and #20 in Australia. Which I found a little surprising, as many see Hunter as a very American name, probably due to the larger number of people who enjoy hunting as a pastime in the US.

If you love names in the same 'hunting' vein as Hunter, other options you might also like are Chase (#69 in the US, #68 in Aus), Archer (#447 in the US, #14 in Aus), Ryder (#108 in the US, #46 in Aus), Fisher (#854 in US, uncharted in Aus), or perhaps Arrow (uncharted).

Many characters in movies and TV shows are named Hunter, and in 1984-1991 there was even an American police drama titled 'Hunter'. Famous namesakes include American journalist and author Hunter S Thompson, golfer Hunter Mahan, young country singer Hunter Hayes and actor Hunter Parrish. While thought of as a boys name, another well known Hunter is female - Hunter Tylo, famous for her role as Taylor in 'The Bold and the Beautiful'. It is seeing some use as a girls name, but is yet to appear on the girls charts.

If you like the sound of Hunter but not its popularity or immediate hunting connotations, other options could by Huntington, Huntingden or Huntley (my personal fave). But my one biggest personal  misgiving about using any "Hunt" related names is exactly that. Their nickname is most likely to be Hunt, which could quickly become a similar sounding word starting with C that nobody should ever like to be called. Not likely to be a problem in the schoolyard, but that's not great at any age.