When Frank Hudock first told his wife Jennifer that his grandparents wanted them to name their son Frank, per generations of family tradition, her response was, "That's never going to happen."
They had just decided on a name they both agreed on - Max - after arguing about dozens of others, and that had been a big relief.
But then the grandparents threw in a sweetener: an offer of $10,000 in exchange for choosing Frank.
Jennifer Hudock's company didn't have a maternity leave policy, and she wasn't going to get paid for several months. She agreed to think it over.
This may seem like an unusual proposal, but several professional baby-name watchers report seeing others along those lines. Maryanna Korwitts, a naming consultant also based near Chicago, said one client's grandfather offered a family business if a baby could be named for him.
Another's in-laws, she said, suggested a dream wedding the mother never had and could not afford on her own. The price? The right to name the firstborn.
Linda Murray, editor-in-chief of BabyCenter, believes such offers are a salvo from the old guard fired against a general millennial disregard for tradition when christening their children.
"For thousands of years, choosing a family name was really how it was done," Murray said. "Now parents are really trying to choose a name that is unique, that suits their child and that says something about their personality."
They are paying naming consultants to choose a name, testing ideas as if they were marketing slogans with college admissions officers, and creating new monikers just because they like the sound.
But older relatives have some leverage against such flights of fancy - in part because now, living longer, they can actually see themselves memorialised with the next generation.
One of Korwitts' clients faced pressure to give her son her grandfather's name, she said, because they wanted him to die in peace.
And "this generation of young parents are more likely to live with their parents or take financial support," Murray said. "So if you are living in their house or they are helping with your rent or a down payment on a house, you may feel beholden to their wishes."
A 35-year-old mum in Great Neck, New York, who didn't want to be named for fear of ruffling relatives' feathers, said she was conflicted when her mother-in-law asked how much money it would take to name her daughter after her side of the family.
"If I really believed I could have gotten her to pay for college, it really seems foolish of me not to put my discomfort aside," she said. "I would probably always resent that person, but to be able to take care of that anxiety, that would be nice."
The graphic designer ultimately said no - "you only get to do this once," she said - but other parents are coming up with creative solutions.
Julia Wang, director of The Bump, said she sees parents using part of a name of family members and combining it with something else to make it unique. Others let family members choose middle names, Chinese names or Hebrew names.
Still others give their child one official name and then call him or her something else. "You might be able to have your cake and eat it too," Murray said.
The Hudocks, though, stuck with Max. In their case, they chose to honour another grandparent: Jennifer's father, also named Max, who died when she was 7.
"It was a decision we made together as husband and wife," she said.