BabyNames.com website crashes after tribute to Black lives lost to police brutality goes viral

10 June 2020, 17:14

John Boyega delivers powerful Black Lives Matter speech at London protest

By Jazmin Duribe

"Each one of these names was somebody’s baby."

Around the world, protesters continue to take a stand against racism and police brutality and now brands are following their lead. While some have been called out for their performative approach to the Black Lives Matter movement (see: Blackout Tuesday), others have received praise for their impactful statements.

BabyNames.com were one of the businesses that have been going viral for their powerful message of support. Now, you might have not visited their site before. The website provides baby name inspiration, meanings and statistics on the post popular names.

READ MORE: Here's how to support Black Lives Matter protesters in the US and UK

If you head to their website the first thing you'll see is a message at the top of the homepage, which reads: "Each one of these names was somebody’s baby," alongside a list of over 100 Black people killed by US police officers or civilians including recent victim, George Floyd. The list ends with a message, reading: "BabyNames.com stands in solidarity with the Black community. #blacklivesmatter."

The solidarity continued on Twitter, where BabyNames.com tweeted out more names of Black people who had tragically lost their lives at the hands of the police, alongside the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag.

In a statement to HuffPost, BabyNames.com co-founder Jennifer Moss explained why she decided to add the names to the website. She said: "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. I am a parent, and it just came from my heart."

According to Metro and multiple Twitter users, the website actually crashed, presumably because of all the people eager to see the statement for themselves. However, at the time of writing, the site appears to be up and running again.