Baby Names

No, Amanda is not pregnant. I did, however, come across this cool link that shows the popularity of baby names over time.

As you can see, Benjamin is still pretty cool. The reemergence of the name matched up pretty perfectly with the birth of yours truly. Coincidence?


Amanda, on the other hand, is a lot like Alf and Kajagoogoo. They were cool in the eighties, but none of them have shown much staying power since.


Type in your name and tell us what comes back. Are you too cool for school or on the way out?

If your interest has been piqued, the book Freakonomics goes into great detail about why certain names become popular and how different names can tell you about your socioeconomic background. I won't go into details, but I highly recommend that chapter (although much of the rest was pretty boring). Word to the wise, don't name your kid Angel.