And Now, Girls’ Names Ending in O
We’re used to -o endings pointing to male names and -a endings to female. But parents are starting to flip the script on final letters.
Boys are Getting Huge, Explosive and Out of Control
Is it massive? Is it powerful? How about savage and prepared to wreak havoc? If so, it’s ready to be a baby name—for boys only.
So You’ve Written a Gay Romance Novel. What’s Your Pen Name?
Romance novels are a genre dominated by pen names. What kind of names do the authors of LGBT romances choose?
4 Things We Learned From the 2020 Baby Name Data
Some quick notes on themes emerging from the new national baby name statistics. 1. Masculinity Through Word NamesOver one thousand names made their all-time debuts in this year’s name stats, 500+ each for boys and girls. Common English words appeared three times more often among the boys’ names. I suspect […]
The Surprising Story of Boys Ending in -A
Once upon a time, something happened to boys’ names ending in the letter A. Or rather, two somethings. Starting around 1970 the typically female -a ending was twice transformed, and the sound of American boys hasn’t been the same since. See for yourself. The top black line in this chart […]
A Baby Name Gender Gap Is Closing
Parents choose different names for boys and girls—and they choose names differently for boys and girls as well. For centuries, female names have been more creative and more subject to the shifting winds of fashion, much as female clothing has been. Male names, like male clothing, remained more conservative. Until […]
A Baby Name Gender Gap Is Closing, Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, I described how a longstanding gender difference in American baby naming is rapidly disappearing. Boys used to be named more conservatively, while girls’ names were more trendy and creative. Today, boys’ names too are objects of fashion, subject to shifting tastes. What does this […]
The Names that Do—and Don’t—Hold Power in Washington
The Brady Bunch? In. Dave and Jen? Out. Oh, and women? Yeah, they’re still out too. Those are a few of the conclusions from a review of the names that rule in American government. I tallied the given names of over 900 current high-ranking US public servants, including congresspeople, cabinet […]
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