Friday, June 24, 2005
The Baby Name Wizard
OK, so now that I'm getting closer and closer to becoming a father, all you regular readers (both of you) are going to have to put up with more baby-related posts. But this one is also a book review, so it's still in keeping with my past subject matters.
The best baby name book in the world is The Baby Name Wizard by Laura Wattenberg.
This book is not only helpful and informative--it's fascinating. So fascinating that I've seen it absolutely captivate people who are not expecting a baby at all. That's because it's way more than a list of names. It's a study of names.
Most of your regular baby name books are just dictionaries. They have a big long list of names, and sometimes include meanings, variants, or famous namesakes. But that's it. As you scan through them, your eyes gloss over, because there is only one good name in these books for every 20 or 30 bad ones. They compete with each other by having longer lists of names. Book A has 10,000 names, but Book B has 30,000 names, and Book C has 100,000 names. Which one, at first glance, will you choose? Why, choose the one with more variety, you say. What that means, though, is that you're just going to have to wade through more Jahidis and Xerxeses in order to get to the names you would actually consider naming your baby.
Wattenberg takes a different approach. In her first section, she has her own list, but it features things like a graph showing the names popularity history, and similar names. If you're considering a certain name, you can look at the list of similar names to expand your search, or just to give yourself an idea of the way other people will react when they hear it--it'll be the same as you react to these related names.
But the second section is even cooler. Rather than organizing names alphabetically, Wattenberg organizes them thematically. The New Classics. Shakespearean names. The names related to or derived from the name Melissa (yes, there is a whole big category). Surfer 60s names.
Seeing the names side by side with similar names gives you much more focus and it's way more entertaining. You can skip the African-American section if you're white, and that's OK.
But the coolest thing about Wattenberg's stuff is that it's not just about finding a name for your baby. It's all about name-ology. The history and derivation of names. Her website, www.babynamewizard.com (at which I am a regular visitor), features a blog with commentary on name trends and history and etymology at least weekly. I tell you what, folks, to me this is fascinating stuff, and usually it has nothing to do with the fact that I am actually looking for a name for my baby. I will be coming back to the website long after the baby has been named.
The other addictive feature of the website is an application called the NameVoyager, which graphs the history of the top 1000 names from 1880 to 2004. You can spend hours there (believe me, I have). Try typing in "Roosevelt" and noticing where it spikes. Notice that "Adolph" didn't die until the 1960s. Stand agog at the fact that in 1880, 7% of all children were named either Mary or John. See how the Kr- names were really only given in the 1970s. It's a whole new way to study culture.
Just get the book (I admit, I got it from the library), and go to the website. Whether you're having a baby or not, you'll be glad you did.
The best baby name book in the world is The Baby Name Wizard by Laura Wattenberg.
This book is not only helpful and informative--it's fascinating. So fascinating that I've seen it absolutely captivate people who are not expecting a baby at all. That's because it's way more than a list of names. It's a study of names.
Most of your regular baby name books are just dictionaries. They have a big long list of names, and sometimes include meanings, variants, or famous namesakes. But that's it. As you scan through them, your eyes gloss over, because there is only one good name in these books for every 20 or 30 bad ones. They compete with each other by having longer lists of names. Book A has 10,000 names, but Book B has 30,000 names, and Book C has 100,000 names. Which one, at first glance, will you choose? Why, choose the one with more variety, you say. What that means, though, is that you're just going to have to wade through more Jahidis and Xerxeses in order to get to the names you would actually consider naming your baby.
Wattenberg takes a different approach. In her first section, she has her own list, but it features things like a graph showing the names popularity history, and similar names. If you're considering a certain name, you can look at the list of similar names to expand your search, or just to give yourself an idea of the way other people will react when they hear it--it'll be the same as you react to these related names.
But the second section is even cooler. Rather than organizing names alphabetically, Wattenberg organizes them thematically. The New Classics. Shakespearean names. The names related to or derived from the name Melissa (yes, there is a whole big category). Surfer 60s names.
Seeing the names side by side with similar names gives you much more focus and it's way more entertaining. You can skip the African-American section if you're white, and that's OK.
But the coolest thing about Wattenberg's stuff is that it's not just about finding a name for your baby. It's all about name-ology. The history and derivation of names. Her website, www.babynamewizard.com (at which I am a regular visitor), features a blog with commentary on name trends and history and etymology at least weekly. I tell you what, folks, to me this is fascinating stuff, and usually it has nothing to do with the fact that I am actually looking for a name for my baby. I will be coming back to the website long after the baby has been named.
The other addictive feature of the website is an application called the NameVoyager, which graphs the history of the top 1000 names from 1880 to 2004. You can spend hours there (believe me, I have). Try typing in "Roosevelt" and noticing where it spikes. Notice that "Adolph" didn't die until the 1960s. Stand agog at the fact that in 1880, 7% of all children were named either Mary or John. See how the Kr- names were really only given in the 1970s. It's a whole new way to study culture.
Just get the book (I admit, I got it from the library), and go to the website. Whether you're having a baby or not, you'll be glad you did.
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