Unsurprisingly, this new field can be tied directly back to TikTok.

 Unsurprisingly, this new field can be tied directly back to TikTok.

 All but one of the consultants I spoke with started out by sharing baby-name trends and suggestions on the social media app before turning it into a business. “I know, everyone's like, ‘That’s a thing?'” says Jenn Ficarra, whose TikTok account for her consulting company, Nom De Bloom Naming, has more than 22,000 followers, with a laugh. “And I'm like, ‘Yes, it is!’”

The pricing and packages offered among these professional baby-name consultants differ, but the gist is the same: Parents-to-be can pay for a bespoke list of first and middle names that meet whatever criteria it is they're looking for. Some of the consultants' clients are international or multiracial parents searching for a name that fits across languages and backgrounds, while others want help finding a name that best matches the vibe of the baby's older siblings. “I'll get requests a lot for honor names too—like their dad's name is Steve, but they don't want to use that,” says Morgan Timm, who shares trends, consultation results, and names she scours from vintage yearbooks on her popular TikTok account. “They ask, ‘How can we incorporate that into a different name?’ A few months ago I worked with somebody who wanted to honor her mom, Wanda. We came up with Rowan Dalia—the last three letters of Rowan are W-A-N and then D-A begins Dalia. So it's like Wanda is in the middle. That was really fun.”