Make no bones about it, cemeteries can be a place of inspiration for baby names.
In a viral TikTok video, Haley Hodge, who is pregnant with her fourth child, explores a graveyard that dates back to 1792 in search of the perfect girl name.
Hodge, 30, and her husband, Rivers, are already parents of Finley, 10, Crew 3, and Banks, 16 months.
“I know some people might find it creepy, but my mother was a history buff and when we were growing up, she would take us on field trips to cemeteries,” Hodge, a physical therapist, tells TODAY.com. “You can learn so much about cultural aspects of the past."
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She notes that her sister Cooper got her name from a tombstone.
Hodge’s excursion to the Smithville Burying Ground in Southport, North Carolina, was a success. She says she is now considering Galloway and Salem for her unborn daughter. In the clip, Hodge also zooms in on Vienna, Ella, Bunny, James, Julian, Winnie and Olympus.
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“I am a gravestone baby (my mom loves to go epitaphing) and whenever people compliment my name I love to tell them and see their shocked faces when I say, ‘thanks my mom got it from a gravestone,’" one person wrote in the comments.
Added another, “I love this! and it’s absolutely no different then looking at a book of names or getting a name from a movie/show. and it’s a great way to bring back the older generation names!”
Some people on TikTok noted that there are superstitions around visiting a graveyard while pregnant, and many pointed out that Salem and Galloway are both place names: Salem, Massachusetts, and Galloway, Scotland.
Laura Wattenberg, creator of Namerology, tells TODAY.com that cemeteries are rich with historical names and a smart place to look for inspiration.
“You’ll find lot of Johns and Marys, and Williams and Anns,” she Wattenberg says. “But you’ll also come across interesting names that have been forgotten.”
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