Inside the Life of a Professional Celebrity Baby Namer (Exclusive)

• Morgan Timm has always had a niche interest in names and name trends
• In 2021, the 29-year-old from Rock Island, Ill., began sharing her passion on TikTok
• Since then, she’s left her career in marketing and technology to become a full-time name consultant, quickly finding that consultations became the bulk of her income
• Today, the creator has developed a platform of more than 217,000 followers on TikTok and aims to see around five clients per week

Morgan Timm has always had a niche interest in names and name trends, so it was no surprise when she turned to TikTok in 2021 to share her passion. Her content ranged from speculating about what celebrities might name their kids to showcasing vintage names from her collection of yearbooks.

However, Timm never anticipated the unexpected turn her TikTok journey would take. “Out of the blue, people started asking, ‘Hey, I have a baby named this. What name would you give their siblings?’ ” she tells PEOPLE exclusively.

As she began creating videos with her recommendations, the demand became overwhelming, and it stopped being fun. “People were getting angry, saying, ‘I’ve asked you 10 days in a row; you’re ignoring me and stressing me out for something that wasn’t making any money,’ ” she recalls. That’s when her husband suggested, “What if you started offering it as a service?”

At first, Timm thought he was a bit crazy, but she decided to give it a try — and it really took off. Now, the 29-year-old from Rock Island, Ill., has fully embraced this new path. She left her career in marketing and technology to become a full-time name consultant, quickly finding that consultations became the bulk of her income.

Today, the creator has developed a platform of more than 217,000 followers on TikTok and aims to see around five clients per week.

“I was able to drop all of my freelancing contracts one by one until I was just doing name consulting full-time,” she says. “I wish I could go back in time and tell myself this is what I’d be doing. I would have never believed it.”

Timm charges a base fee of $125 per session. She also offers larger, more expensive packages, often including genealogy consultations where she explores couples’ family trees. These sessions are more intensive, so she relies on word of mouth to promote them, as she doesn’t have the bandwidth to take on many at once.

In January, Timm was approached for the first time by a client who revealed they would only work with her if she signed an NDA. Since then, she has had five more similar experiences.

“The first time was shocking and incredibly exciting. I couldn’t wait to find out who it was,” Timm says. “After signing the NDA, I discovered that I didn’t know who they were. Interestingly, a lot of them have been athletes’ wives, which is tricky for me since I don’t follow sports.”

She adds, “But it’s still very cool to get those inquiries. I remember the first or second time it happened, it was around the announcement of the Bieber pregnancy, and I was so hopeful it was them — but it wasn’t. That would have been a dream come true!”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

While Timm can’t disclose the names of some of her bigger clientele, she notes that many fall within the athlete category. She’s also worked with social media influencers, including Francesca Farago, who hired her for a consultation for her cousin, as well as women from Buzzfeed, including Lily Williams.

Timm adds that among her bigger clients who’ve asked her to sign NDAs, it’s often because they want to keep their use of a name consultant private.

“It’s not that they don’t want the names I recommend shared; they just don’t want people to know they worked with me,” she says. “I think some people view what I do as unusual, so they might worry about judgment. While most people find it cool, I do get comments like, ‘This isn’t even a real job,’ or ‘Who hires a name consultant?’ So, I think they might be concerned about public perception.”

When someone approaches Timm for a basic level name consultation, she first sends them a form that includes questions like what names they’re already considering, what names are off-limits, which phonetic sounds they like and any relevant background they want included. It also asks if the names need to work in multiple languages.

From there, she compiles a brainstorming document. “When I deliver that, it’s about a 20-page document that breaks down every step of their consultation, culminating in their top suggestions,” she explains. While she does offer the option for a TikTok video about the experience, too, “Even without an NDA, if they ask me to keep it private, it stays private,” she assures.

When asked about the most interesting names Timm has discovered and recommended over the years, she finds it hard to choose just one. However, she recently recommended the name Pedro, which she particularly likes.

Timm is currently married but is yet to have kids. But, when she and her husband hopefully do start growing their family within the next couple of years, she predicts that choosing names is going to be a struggle, despite her job.

As she says of the gig, “I feel like it’s made it even harder for me in the future to try to imagine what I’m going to name my kids!”