The Name
Baxter
Holmes
Having a unique handle is one thing—sharing it with the world is a whole other story
Alex Hoerner
I am The Name. A Los Angeles Times editor told me so. Walked up armed with a big smile—and a swarm of colleagues—and called me out: “You’re The Name?”
“So I’ve heard,” I responded, face in full blush, to the chorus of laughing coworkers. The title was bestowed behind my back. When it happened I’ve no idea, but the handle—or variations thereof—has shadowed me since entering the newspaper business eight years ago.
I’ve done my best to brush the remarks—positive and otherwise—aside. A tough one to shake is a comment left by “hector” on a Times blog post of mine last fall about a man getting crushed by a truck: “Forget the article, Baxter Holmes is one of the coolest names for a reporter I’ve heard in a long time! Sounds like something Stan Lee would have come up with.”
But what’s in a name, as the Bard so succinctly queried some five centuries ago? More than you might think. Evan Dwin, a lawyer from Santa Monica, taught me that last August, when he emailed the following through Facebook:
“Baxter, my wife are I are about to have a baby,” his message began. “The due date is August 23. We are going to wait until the big day to find out whether it is a boy or a girl. If it is a boy, we really like the name Baxter. We looked at thousands of boy names before we saw one we liked. We think Baxter is quite a find.”
He said though he couldn’t find much in the way of research, he had seen my byline in the Times and wanted to know both how I got my name and what it’s like to live with it.
“You should know we have not disclosed this name to any of our friends or family and do not intend to until we use it. It is top secret. Thus, you are in a very special club that includes only me, my wife and a sportswriter neither of us has ever met.”
Touching. And it stirred my curiosity, because I hadn’t any idea how my name came to be. It was time to find out. Mom provided the background. When waddling around with me in her belly, she saw “Baxter” autographed on the cast of a friend of a friend’s broken arm. It was just what she was looking for, something distinct and distinguished. “I knew the minute I said it in my mind,” she says. “I loved the way it sounded.”
Intrinsically, though, it was also important how it looked on paper, since Mom is an avid calligrapher who has written sewing and design books.
People told her it was a big name, something I’d have to grow into—which is funny, because I’m often told now it’s a byline I have to live up to.
And what did it feel like? Hmmm, what’s it like to be named any name? Names are identifiers, but since they shadow our lives, we never give them much thought, just like we never think about how we walk or what we sound like breathing. I grew up in a small town in rural Oklahoma, where everyone knew everyone. Baxter was just what I was—nothing special.
So when asked to describe the essence of “Baxter,” I thought, When someone shouts it in a crowd, it’s my attention they’re trying for. I gave this scant research to Evan, but I wondered why he and the missus were investigating this so thoroughly. Then I learned it’s hip these days. Parents-to-be are slogging through baby-name books, downloading software and even hiring branding consultants to find strong, rhythmic, unique names that carry positive connotations, predispositions for success and marketability.
This, of course, damns family and religious baby-naming traditions, but so it goes.
Still curious, I researched “Baxter.” It means “baker” in Old English, and according to Social Security Administration data, it hasn’t broken into the top 1,000 boy names since 1927, when it ranked 962nd.
As for its branding potential, I contacted Today Translations, a London-based company often hired to help in the baby-naming process. “Our conclusion,” CEO Jurga Zilinskiene wrote me, “is that if you want your child to grow up to be, say, the CEO of a multinational or a global entertainment star, then the name ‘Baxter’ would be a fairly good choice...”
Doubtful, that. But Baxter is a good name for dogs in Anchorman and cats in Meow Mix commercials—and for newspaper reporters, I guess.
After I responded to Evan, I waited as his wife’s due date passed without a word. Then in early September, a message:
“Bax, on August 25, my wife delivered a beautiful baby girl. Her name is Ellie Gabriella Dwin. Thanks for offering to share your name with us, but it looks like you are still the only Baxter in Los Angeles.”
Baxter is a good name for dogs in Anchorman and cats in Meow Mix commercials—and for newspaper reporters, I guess.
First thought: Dammit. Almost-Baxter’s chromosomes wound up XX instead of XY. This was Evan’s fault, genetically speaking. I’ve never met any others with my first name, though I’m sure they exist. L.A. is a big place. Still, I was happy. The Dwins had their first child, and I had new friends. I even liked how in Evan’s first message he called me Baxter, and in his second, he went with Bax.
We met for lunch in April at a Santa Monica diner: me; Evan, a man about my height and build (five-eight, 150 pounds) with dark hair; Leah, just as tall, slender, dark hair, warm smile; and almost-Baxter, er, Ellie.
Nearly eight months by then, Ellie—with dark hair, a purple shirt and matching pajama pants—wiggled in a car seat in the booth between her parents. The Dwins and I chatted for an hour, as Ellie ate spooned avocado and giggled, unaware of our connection. But her bluer-than-blue eyes met mine many times.
Normally when I see babies, I see the mountain of time and money they cost (not to mention the whole changing-diapers thing). But Ellie’s adorable/wonderful/blissful smile melted that away. Cuteness heals all.
I learned that all their moniker research had come down to Baxter and Ellie. Leah liked Ellie partly because as a girl she had a stuffed elephant called that. But, Evan added, they’re thinking of having another. Good call. Ellie needs a brother—a Baxter.
That is how names should come about. They should spring from serendipity and inspiration. You’re naming a person, not imagining a brand—or even a catchy newspaper byline.
BAXTER HOLMES, when he isn’t fielding snarky comments, writes about sports for the L.A. Times.
Categories: Personal Space
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Verify your Comment
Previewing your Comment
This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
And I was privileged enough to have Baxter as my sports editor at the Oklahoma Daily.
Posted by: Kyle | 08/01/2010 at 09:17 AM
How is this a story? Or even an interesting essay?
As an outsider, this just reeks of self-interest. A LA Times reporter writing about themselves for the LA Times magazine. I wonder how many people out there, in the real world outside the LA Times world, truly have more unique names than "Baxter"?
Posted by: You don't wanna know | 08/01/2010 at 03:18 PM
Hey Baxter,
Just writing to let you know, you are not the the only Baxter here in LA. I am also a proud holder of the name and have, to this day, never met anyone who shared it.
Good to know there are more of us out here. I'm still working on the CEO of a multi-national thing though...
Posted by: Baxter Ross | 08/01/2010 at 07:11 PM
I think it is a wonderful, interesting article and a breath of fresh air from all the articles of despair you read each day. Lucky LA, you have a reporter such as Bax.
Posted by: Adrienne Gatti | 08/02/2010 at 06:48 AM
"Bax" wrote an amazing series of stories chronicling the Sooners' record-breaking 2008 season while we were at OU. I designed the package and worked with him on making everything fit within 14 pages of pure writing genius. He was a blast to work with.
Posted by: Mike Mitra | 08/02/2010 at 08:22 AM
I am an ORIGINAL as well, been in LA my entire life, Bax
Posted by: Baxter Larmon | 08/02/2010 at 08:56 AM
The only human Baxter I heard of before this was Ted Baxter, the deep-voiced, shallow minded anchor from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Posted by: Tango Kilo | 08/03/2010 at 08:18 PM
Am I the only one who remembers Baxter Ward, a Los Angeles TV newsman?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxter_Ward
Posted by: Donna | 08/08/2010 at 07:49 AM
I went to high school with a guy named Baxter Jones. He was a year ahead of me (class of '78), very nice, goodlooking and hellagood basketball player. He made Windham High School of Ohio proud.
Wonder whatever happened to him?
Posted by: Sabrina | 08/10/2010 at 11:23 AM
Baxter, eh.
Says it all.
With the inane Zell at the top of your food chain, your unique name could eventually save your job.
Posted by: paul fernandez | 08/10/2010 at 06:41 PM
The most famous LA Baxter, of course, was Baxter Ward, the Channel 7 Eyewitness News anchor who morphed into a two-term LA County supe.
Posted by: Mike | 08/12/2010 at 12:57 PM
I love this story/essay/article! I also have a unique first + last name combo and I think that your personal story was a delight to read. I also think that there is an extremely interesting side story here: Today Translations, a London-based company often hired to help in the baby-naming process. People actually contract out for the naming process?! Madness, but, not totally surprising given what we have access to these days.
You might not want to publish this part of the comment, but I seriously (I swear) was born on the same day as a girl named Cigarette; she was born down the hall from me at the hospital so our parents bonded a bit.
Posted by: Larke Paul | 08/18/2010 at 03:51 PM
I have a Persian cat named Baxter, and everyone loves him.
The name is a classic.
Posted by: cinnamon barks | 10/23/2010 at 11:15 PM
yes, Baxter can be the new Cody--or Carson or other annoying up to the minute cool kid name. Now we need to come up with a new "Madison".
Posted by: jwangsness@verizon.net | 01/26/2011 at 07:40 PM
I'm also a baxter.
Posted by: Baxter Davis | 11/27/2011 at 01:50 PM
Hello. Just had a baby boy on November 4, 2011. His name is Baxter. Love-love-love the uniqueness of the name!
Posted by: Jill | 01/04/2012 at 02:13 PM
These comments are most certainly the biggest collection of Baxter's ever. I was almost certain I was alone but glad to see I'm not!
Anyone who's thinking of naming their kid Baxter... I can't tell you how tired I am of the double take I get when I tell people my name. Every. Single. Time. However, I have to admit it's a bit of a double edged sword, it's nice having a unique and distinguished name. Does it make up for a childhood full of teasing? I haven't decided yet but I don't think I will be naming my kids after me if that tells you anything.
Posted by: Baxter | 02/06/2012 at 02:44 PM
I'm happy to know that there are other Baxter's out there that aren't dogs.
Posted by: Baxter Rodman | 03/09/2012 at 02:08 PM
Our five year old is called Baxter - his nicknames are Bax and Baxy. We live in New Zealand and it's not a common name here either.
Posted by: Ange | 05/28/2012 at 02:23 AM
Bax - your article was a great read, by the way.
Posted by: Ange | 05/28/2012 at 02:51 AM