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Police and protesters outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention

When Everything Changed

December 13, 2021 LauraWattenberg 4 min read 11 Comments

Is there a “before” and “after” moment in modern American history? A time when the trajectory changed, when we started living and thinking differently?

A Town Called Emily?

July 7, 2020 LauraWattenberg 3 min read 19 Comments

My hometown has three colleges, a proud literary heritage, and a really sketchy name. Amherst, Massachusetts was named in 1759 by a colonial governor in honor of Lord Jeffrey Amherst. Lord Jeffrey was a British commander during the French and Indian war whose military techniques included biological warfare and genocide. […]

Photos of a Depression breadline, a WWI "keep calm and carry on" sign and a 2020 "stay home" alert sign

Naming in Hard Times

April 21, 2020 LauraWattenberg 5 min read 2 Comments

What will baby names look like for the rest of 2020? It’s a deeper question than it may seem, because names are more than just fashion statements. They’re reflections of parents’ attitudes and obsessions, hopes and dreams. That makes names a barometer of a nation’s state of mind—especially in a […]

Where Are the Classic Names Now?

July 23, 2019 Namerology 2 min read 1 Comment

The mighty have fallen. The names that ruled over the English-speaking world for centuries have been deposed, and I can prove it with a single chart. Take a look at this past vs. present view of some classic names, 1900 vs. 2018: The 2018 column shows the number of American […]

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