The Women Naming Their Babies After Themselves

Choosing a baby name is one of the first major decisions you make as a parent, and it can be a stressful one. Should you pick a trendy, unique name? Honor a family member? Go gender neutral, or traditional? The questions can be dizzying, and the choices feel rife with meaning. Names, after all, are our introduction to the world and tend to make a statement. Some women are making that statement by turning an old patriarchal tradition on its head: They’re naming their daughters after themselves.

For certain mothers, sharing a name with a child is an intrinsically feminist act simply because it’s unexpected in our society. Susannah Wilson, who manages arts organizations in New Haven, Connecticut, recently welcomed a daughter and named her Susannah. When she began to spell her newborn’s name for the hospital record-keeper, the person interrupted, insisting that Wilson was giving her own name, not her baby’s. “My brother’s a Junior …