A speech therapist has urged parents to avoid using three popular baby names — and for a specific reason.
Speech-language pathologist Chloe Conrad, founder of Spunky Speech Therapy in San Diego, shared the trio of names that she would never consider using for her children in a video on her Instagram last week.
“Rory, Rowan, and Aurora,” she said in the clip. “They’re so hard to say.”
In the caption, she further explained why those three names are a no from her, as a speech therapist.
“Basically any name with R and O in it next to each other. I LOVE the way they sound but struggle teaching a child to say them,” Conrad wrote.
During an interview with Today, Conrad said certain vowel-consonant combinations, like R and O, are trickier for children to pronounce.
“Most young children substitute a W for a R, which is completely developmentally appropriate,” she told the publication. “That substitution usually starts to resolve around age six.”
But when combined, R and O pose a bigger articulation challenge, Conrad said. She noted that other names like Laurel and Axl can also be difficult for children for similar reasons.
In the comments of Conrad’s viral Instagram video, many people agreed her, noting that they’d also avoid those three baby names because they’re not easy to pronounce.
“My guess was Aurora before I ever heard it!” one person wrote. “I have the hardest time saying it! We had a little girl on our soccer team last season and even the parents yelling it sounded off to me! Lol.”
“I have a hard time saying Aurora, I always will,” another agreed, while a third wrote: “Said Rory in my head before you started talking.”
A fourth shared: “Oops. My almost two-year-old son is named Rowan. He can’t say Rowan and refers to himself as ‘Ro Ro.’ But glad that I now know it’s a hard one to pronounce for kids. Lol.”
However, in 2025, most parents are going for other baby names. According to data released in May by the Social Security Administration, Liam and Olivia remain the most popular baby names in the U.S.
This marks Liam’s eighth consecutive year at the top of the boys’ list and Olivia’s sixth time on top for girls. The data, compiled from Social Security card applications, also revealed that Noah and Emma held onto their second-place positions for the sixth year in a row.
After Liam, the most common names for boys are, in order: Noah, Oliver, Theodore, James, Henry, Mateo, Elijah, Lucas, and William. After Olivia, the most common names for girls are Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, Mia, Sophia, Isabella, Evelyn, Ava, and Sofia.
However, this doesn’t mean that parents won’t experiment with baby names. Baby naming consultant Taylor A Humphrey previously told The Independent that parents are inspired by meaningful names within their family. As such, one popular trend she’s witnessed is parents giving their surnames as first names to their babies.
“In many cases, these are familial names that are being used to honor a passed loved one,” she explained. “It’s a fun way to modernize the honor-name tradition. For example, if your beloved grandmother was named Ethel Taylor, but you fear Ethel being a little too outdated, you could choose the more modern, androgynous Taylor for your son or daughter.”
