Millennials have truly hit a new level of “extra.” Social media habits are now dictating the way millennial parents name their babies.
New parents are first checking to see if their preferred baby name has an available corresponding web domain before putting anything down on that birth certificate.
This silly yet shocking statistic comes from GoDaddy research, conducted by One Poll, which found 1 in 5 new parents change or seriously consider changing their baby’s name due to domain name availability or lack thereof.
Millennial parents are the first generation of parents that grew up, at least in their later childhood years, with a daily online presence. The addiction to cellphones and the constant need to check platforms like Facebook and Instagram are now prompting expecting couples to think about their child’s online presence while their child is still in the womb. About 58 percent of millennials say they created their first social media profile between age 10 and 17. Now their children will report their parents made one for them!
[Also read: Millennials, the most isolationist generation: Study]
The GoDaddy poll did ask about the intent behind purchasing a domain name for a newborn. About 48 percent of parents said they created a website for future job searching and 47 percent cited college application purposes. Yet this trend is just as much for the parents as it is for the kids; the average child of a millennial has 107 photos of themselves posted online before they can even walk.
“[W]e expect to see registering for a domain become as common as registering for a stroller for new parents,” Melissa Schneider of GoDaddy told the New York Post.
Alexander James is a contributor to Red Alert Politics and a freelance journalist.
