a blog by Jack Limpert, Editor of The Washingtonian for more than 40 years.
From a Washington Post story by Sarah Fowler headlined “When you pick the wrong name for your baby”:
Some parents-to-be know the perfect name when they hear it. Others spend hours scouring books and websites, sounding out first and middle names and gaming out every possible burden each combination could bring. And others are guided by the family tree, naming every firstborn girl Margaret or every firstborn boy Junior.
From a Wall Street Journal column by Bart Stratton headlined “Who’ll Win the Baby Name Game?”:
My daughter is pregnant and wants to talk about baby names. I’m reluctant. My parents never advised me on what to name my kids or how to raise them. My wife and friends all say I should plunge into the name game.
I’m touchy about names. I have an artificial last name. My dad changed it from Soltzberg in 1941. He got Stratton out of a phone book in a waiting room before a job interview. He got hired. Anti-Semitism was the reason for the name change. When I finished college, I told my dad I was thinking of changing back to Soltzberg, and he went nuts: “You’re looking for trouble. Don’t do it!”
