BabyNames.com Changes Homepage to List Names of Black Lives Lost: That 'Was Somebody's Baby'

"My goal was to make people understand that they aren't just names," BabyNames.com founder Jennifer Moss said

BabyNames.com is joining the fight against racial injustice and sending a powerful message that the many black civilians who have been killed are more than just another name.

Instead of prospective parents being met with the planning website's usually bright-colored homepage, BabyNames.com now features a black box listing more than a hundred names of black Americans who were killed by the police or other civilians.

"Each of these names was somebody's baby," the graphic reads.

The bottom of the box includes the note, "BabyNames.com stands in solidarity with the black community. #blacklivesmatter."

The list of names ranges from Emmett Till, whose death in 1955 sparked the civil rights movement, to the more recent killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.

Babynames.com

“I saw the names listed on NPR, and they broke my heart. I knew then I wanted to include them in our company’s statement,” BabyNames.com founder Jennifer Moss told HuffPost. “I am a parent, and it just came from my heart.”

While BabyNames.com seemed like an unexpected business to take a stand with the Black Lives Matter movement, Moss said the idea behind the message was simple.

“My goal was to make people understand that they aren’t just names,” she said. “They are human beings and were loved.”

The website has also been updating the list of names on Twitter, honoring each additional person in a tweet.

On Tuesday, the brand also shared a donation link to the Black Lives Matter movement, noting that the company "stands in solidarity with the black community."

Many users on Twitter were pleasantly surprised to see BabyNames.com bringing their voice to the movement, urging others to check out the website's message.

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1270433105107705857&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Fbabynames-com-black-lives-matter_l_5edfd2cac5b69a30ee7b471c

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1270409388357038088&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Fbabynames-com-black-lives-matter_l_5edfd2cac5b69a30ee7b471c

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1270229168026877953&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Fbabynames-com-black-lives-matter_l_5edfd2cac5b69a30ee7b471c

"So there are utterly standard, boilerplate, everyone-uses-the-same-font-and-layout-and-language statements from companies and sites on BLM... and then sometimes you find something like this. Give it a click," one user wrote.

Another person called the statement, "powerful stuff."

"BabyNames.com is a family-owned and operated company and this issue is important to us," Moss told Mashable. "We are grateful and humbled to have helped further the conversation about systemic racism and violence in this country."

To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations:

• Campaign Zero (joincampaignzero.org) which works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies.
• ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities.
• National Cares Mentoring Movement (caresmentoring.org) provides social and academic support to help black youth succeed in college and beyond.