Courtney and David Denker live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with their daughter Pippen Carol.
Pippen was born on August 31, 2022. Here, we talk to Courtney about how she and David named their little girl.
David said to me, “I’ve never told anyone, but I have a girl name that I like — Pippen.” We’re from Minnesota, but he was a big Chicago Bulls fan in their heyday, back in the ‘90s. Michael Jordan is his favorite player, but he felt Jordan was too common as a name, even back then.
So David fell in love with the name Pippen, after Scottie Pippen. Even as a teenager, he thought it would be a cool, unique, very sporty girl name. And I liked it, too! When we found out we were pregnant with a girl, we knew she was Pippen.
David’s mom is also named Carol, called Carrie, and my mom is Carri, after her mother. The name Carol honors both of Pippen’s grandmothers and a late great-grandmother — there was no question about her middle name.
Personally, I love French-inspired names, but we’re not French. I liked Aveline and Josette — singsongy, older names that could have a cute nickname. They’re not as popular in the Midwest.
My dad is from Calgary, and there are many street, town, and neighborhood names from First Nations languages in Canada. There is a city called Airdrie in Calgary, and I think it’s the most beautiful name.
The combination was Dawson William, so he would have had the same initials as David. Dawson means “son of David” and it’s Scottish, so we felt like it would be an ode to David without using the same name.
David wanted to go the basketball route and name a son Oakley and call him Oak. That felt a little too common for me — I have multiple friends who have used Oakley for their daughters.
David also has Russian heritage, so we looked at Russian names like Alexei with the nickname Lex. It felt fun and forward.
My dad had the sweetest response. Pippen is the first grandchild on my side of the family, so my parents had to choose their grandparent names. The day my dad met her, he said, “This is Pip and I’m Pop.” He wanted to match Pippen.
My friends are using vintage names and some of the trendier choices like Oliver, Ava, and Charlotte. I have five friends with little girls named Charlie! Two of my friends had babies at the same time as me, and their names are Ava and Lillian.
The furniture — her dresser, the floating bookshelves, and a play gym — are all made of natural materials without any color or stain.
We live in a condo and she doesn’t have any windows in her room, so we’re trying to create some lightness. There’s a big olive tree and a mirror in one of the corners to bring in nature and make the space feel bigger and brighter.
She has some heirloom clothes as well. She was baptized in a gown that is over 100 years old — it came from Germany on my dad’s side. My late grandmother, Carol, had sewn clothes for my mom that I was photographed in as a child. When Pippen gets a little bigger, we’ll have photos of three generations in these outfits.
Pippen and I have gone to the library for story time ever since she was little. We try and take advantage of everything Minneapolis has to offer!
There’s a giant grassy park with trees that we try to go to a couple of times a week just to get her in nature. Even though we live in the city we want her to experience the outdoors and play in the grass.
Stokke is my favorite. We love having Pippen be a part of our family meals.
$219 at Nordstrom
$219 at Amazon
We live in Downtown Minneapolis, so we wanted something that could easily travel with us and that we could take to restaurants.
$949.95 at Nordstrom
$950 at Bloomingdale's
We try to expose Pippen to other cultures, even in the books we read every day.
$11.99 at Amazon
$17.66 at Bookshop
Pippen engages with these so much more than other toys.
$10.88 at Amazon
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Thank you so much, Courtney!
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Sophie Kihm has been writing for Nameberry since 2015. She has contributed stories on the top 2020s names, Gen Z names, and cottagecore baby names. Sophie is Nameberry’s resident Name Guru to the Stars, where she suggests names for celebrity babies. She also manages the Nameberry Instagram and Pinterest.
Sophie Kihm's articles on names have run on People, Today, The Huffington Post, and more. She has been quoted as a name expert by The Washington Post, People, The Huffington Post, and more. You can follow her personally on Instagram or Pinterest, or contact her at [email protected]. Sophie lives in Chicago.
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