What Names do Violence-prone MAGA Republicans Give their Children?

Let's start with Donald Dumb naming his son "Barron". He could have gone higher with King, or Emperor, or even Shah. 

But the average, patriotically violent, gun-owning American of the Trump movement find names with violent connotations too cute: I have a Simth & Wesson in my home arsenal, so my boy will be named "Wesson".

According to Huffpost, other trending names in regressive Trump's America include Caliber, Shooter, Barrel, Trigger, Bullet, Ammo, Blade , Cannon, Remington, Colt, Ruger, Winchester, Arson, Cutter and Dagger are among the other names with a violent edge in recent data, according to the Social Security Administration.

Weapons-inspired names suggest that parents transfer their love of violence from their favorite weapons to their newborns, who in turn could grow up "inspired" by their names. You know, a Joseph is often suggestive of a fatherly persona with a particular connotation with the father of Jesus. Names like Paul and Peter also derive aura from religious figures. By far, the currently trending violence-inspired names are given much more frequently to newborns in primitive backward states in the racist, segregationist south, like Texas or Alabama. 

Now imagine if the last name is also, perhaps inherited unwillingly, derived from violent history, mythology and imagery. Hatchett is one. Caine is another. Blight yet another.... etc.

The appeal of such names is embedded in conservative values espoused by gun advocates whose machismo and exaggerated masculinity underscores the fear that their child - a boy - might be less masculine. By giving their son a name associated with violence, aggression or strength, they seek a nominal insurance voucher that their male offspring will be masculine and not gay-like or effeminate.

I remember a family in upsate New York that had a boy and two girls. When the boy was about 5 years old, he would occasionally run around visitors holding his shirt up to his chest, showing his belly and yelling, "Wanna feel my body? Wanna feel my body?". The father would go ballistic, grab the boy and lecture him not to do that anymore because boys don't do that! 

Machismo is often associated with men in Latin America, but not in North America. The fact is that men in the United States are as macho as their counterparts in south and central America, but they have learned to disguise it under a veneer of civility. Trump has, unfortunately, lifted the veil and freed the United Statesian male from any inhibition with regards to violence and aggressive masculinity. He took all of America back to the Wild West where 21st century men, supposedly tamed into being civlized, can again enjoy killing free of remorse or ethical considerations. In the mind of Trump's MAGA and republicans, a male is by definition an aggressive, mean warrior (Hegseth dixit) who should like to be "lethal". There can be no other form of masculinity. Which explains the reaction - backlash against the women's rights movement as being the culprit behind the North American male's feminization, as the Radical Right sees it.

Interviewed by Huffpost, Sophie Kihm, the editor-in-chief at the website Nameberry, says, “It’s rare for me to outright reject a name or name trend, but I cannot get behind weapon-inspired names ... They glamorize violence, particularly in the wake of so much violence in the U.S."

BabyNames.com founder Jennifer Moss says, “I find the weapon names particularly alarming because it’s tying your child to an instrument of destruction or death ― or at the least a word that’s associated with violence,” Moss said. “Another reason not to use a name with an immediately identifiable meaning is that it can become a joke. People’s first response might be to laugh at it, or assume that you do belong to a particular culture that favors weaponry or violence. It comes with baggage.”