IKEA Just Launched A Baby Name Bank & It Includes 800 'Unique' Ideas From Its Catalog
Your kid could be named after a couch!
If you're looking to give your baby a unique name, then IKEA wants you to flip through its catalog.
The Swedish furniture retailer is known for giving its home products interesting names, and now it's trying to branch out with a list of monikers for humans, too.
IKEA Norway just launched a "name bank" with more than 800 ideas for boys and girls, in an effort to help parents in a country that's seeing a COVID baby boom.
"Finding the name of a child can be both difficult and fun," IKEA says in a translated message at the top of the catalog.
"We at IKEA have given names to products for more than 70 years. So, if you are completely stuck, or just want some inspiration -- here you will find over 800 boy names and girl names."
The catalog is in alphabetical order, so you can search through it by preferred letter. It's also using a Norway-friendly alphabet, so you'll probably stumbled upon the occasional "å" or "æ" as you go.
Of course, it's worth pointing out that IKEA has already used the names on this list for furniture, so that might lead to some interesting conversations when your child grows up.
Each name in the catalog comes with a description of the product that IKEA gave that name to, so one day you can tell little Cornilla that she was named after a shower curtain.
The list does not include the iconic Billy bookcase, but it does have other familiar names such as Camilla, Felicia and Nelson, along with more Scandinavian ones like Bonita, Ebba and Frode.
"In Norway, almost 3,000 more children were born in 2021 than the year before, which is an increase of over five percent, and it presents challenges in finding unique names," IKEA said in a press release on its Norwegian a press release on the retailer's website.
"IKEA has since 1948 chosen to use names instead of article numbers on its products, and after all these years has built up a large 'catalog' to pick from and which can be helpful when new parents need to find names."
You've gotta love that Scandinavian simplicity!