I’ve had a note for baby names in my phone for years. I’ve used it to list name ideas, so I don’t forget them by the time I’m pregnant.
I open this iPhone note every few months and every time I do, I usually delete a name I used to love. It’s normal to outgrow names. Or, you could meet someone with the same name, and they put you off of it. Either way, it’s good to have options.
While I’m sentimental and prefer to find inspiration from the world around me — rather than from an AI chatbot — I do like the idea of using AI as a brainstorming partner. Not only to find new names, but also to discover the stories and special significance of names on our shortlist.
AI has been a handy tool so far in our fertility journey. I’ve used AI to help plan the best diet in the lead-up to IVF, see what our future baby might look like and even create a custom baby book. These are all lighthearted projects that can keep me occupied and excited during the fertility journey.
If I can use AI to recommend a book that I might like, can it do the same for baby names? Let’s find out.
Chatting through baby name suggestions with ChatGPT
It’s best to log in to the chatbot, rather than just using the main search, so that ChatGPT can connect to its past history about you (ChatGPT shared some revealing insights about me when I asked it recently). This way, it’s not starting from scratch, and knows what kind of things you like.
You could start with a broad prompt like: “Based on what you know about me, suggest 10 boy baby names I might like.”
Right off the bat, it generated a list of 10 baby names with two that I already have on my list: Atlas and Finn.
ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET
Unfortunately, my wife doesn’t love the name Finn, so that one’s a no-go.
I told ChatGPT which ones I liked and asked for similar options. I was blown away — it generated a name that has been on our list for years, that I thought no one knew about. It’s the name of a church in the town we live in. We’re not religious, but just adore the name: Cassian, or Cash for short.
ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET
Can ChatGPT read my mind (or my iPhone notes)? It sure feels like it. My iPhone note:
Amanda Smith/CNET
I asked ChatGPT where it got Cassian from (I was curious).
ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET
AI suggested baby names that were a little too ‘out there’
Next, I fed it my list and asked for more suggestions. It said my list contained names that all had similar traits, like being “poetic and adventurous,” “gender-neutral or soft-masculine,” “nature, myth or celestial influences,” “global, modern and a bit mysterious” and “strong yet soulful.”
It suggested a few more from each of those categories, including:
ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET
I didn’t like any of the options. They were a little too out there, which I told ChatGPT. The problem with AI is it generates responses based on what it thinks it knows about you.
It knows I’m a writer, a traveler and I’m philosophical. But this doesn’t mean I’m looking for a literary-inspired name. It kept pulling names from books it knows I’ve read, like Dorian from The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Out of the next list, I only liked two: Julian and Miles.
I kept requesting prompts like “more names like Phoenix” or “more names like Paxton,” with no such luck.
Paxton was closer than Cassian, which felt medieval or mythic. ChatGPT told me Paxton is modern and strong. It picked up a few names I like such as Lennox and Emory, so I continued on this track.
For every list it generated, I probably liked one name out of 10.
AI help with my baby name shortlist
It was cool to see many of the names in my personal shortlist suggested by ChatGPT. It’s a handy thought partner if you’re stuck for name ideas or if you want to learn more about the origin of your favorite.
Just for fun, I asked what girl names it thought I’d be interested in, to see if I could get one from my shortlist. It literally picked our No. 1 (Emerson).
ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET
At the very least, this was an affirming exercise. It didn’t change our list, but it helped to clarify it. To close, I asked ChatGPT if it had any suggestions for names that felt both Aussie and NYC-inspired.
ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET
I added Flynn, Sonny, Willa and Isla to my list.
This was fun!
