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Moving house!

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- The Baby Name Wizard blog is moving! Starting in May, this column will have a new home at:http://www.babynamewizard.com/blogRSS feed:http://feeds.babynamewizard.com/bnwblog/bnw.xmlTransfers can be a little bumpy so, please be patient with me if it takes a day or two to have everything up and running in the new place.I'm happy to say that this new blog home is just the beginning of a total makeover...     2008
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"Please use this name liberally within its ethnic context!"

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- I recently stumbled on a website with a large set of baby names classified as either "legitimate" or "illegitimate.""Legitimate" names were verified by the site creators as real names with known origins.  "Illegitimate" names appeared to be random user submissions like Brinderella and Dabrielle -- names, in the site's own words, "most likely either pulled out of someone's behind or respelled with ...     2008
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The long road from fantasy to reality

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- Today's guest namer is my six-year-old daughter, who spent a recent morning hard at work planning a fantasy novel about "centrises."  A centris, she explained, is half woman and half pegasus.  When I checked in with her she was developing a complete chart of the centris population, with columns for "name," "spirit," "parent" and "leader."  For example: Name: Fironnah (pronounced fye-RAHN-a) Spirit...     2008
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And Baby Name Nation says...

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- You've made your guesses of the hottest and coldest names in America in the Baby Name Pool.  Now it's time to learn from your collective wisdom.  When dozens of name lovers pick the same name as a best bet for popularity, you know that name has something going on: the zeitgeist is with it.  This year, the winds of change seem to be blowing for these names...Most popular "Rising" choices 1. Miley 2...     2008
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Last day to enter the Baby Name Pool!

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- Go on, take the plunge. Think of it this way...you don't even have to admit that you entered unless you win!BabyNamePool.com     2008
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Advance the cause of name science!

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- I've been talking with a team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania who are interested in people's attitudes toward different names. They have a new survey they're running online that's open for public participation, and I thought we might lend them a hand.     2008
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A plug, and a coincidence

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- First, the plug: Have you entered your predictions in the Baby Name Pool? If not, here's why you should bother. Remember that time you joined in an Academy Awards prediction pool with your friends, and suddenly the Oscar telecast was soooo much more interesting ...     2008
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Fake names tell a story, too

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- Real baby names are my stock in trade, but I'm also fascinated by the names we don't give our children...but think we do.Those include urban legend names as well as false names that sneak into "official" records.Sometimes those false name reports reflect nothing more than bad penmanship.     2008
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I'm so glad I asked!

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- Thank you, thank you to everyone who took the time to offer suggestions for the 2nd edition of The Baby Name Wizard!  When I wrote the original book I was inventing the format as I went along, trying to create the kind of reference I wanted for naming my own children.  It's amazing now to have it out in the world and to hear what works -- and better yet, have a chance to improve on it for a second...     2008
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Give me an earful

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- I'm currently up to my elbows in edits for the second edition of The Baby Name Wizard.  I'm reviewing every single entry, updating, expanding, and adding names.  Many names have shifted in style and meaning in the past few years, some subtly (Riley), some dramatically (Katrina).  And Shiloh, which was a last-minute cut from the first edition (drat) is now a must-have.  Plus the sibling suggestions...     2008
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If you don't mind me saying so...

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- In college, I worked as a summer research assistant in a psychology lab. There were three of us undergrads in the lab: Laura, Laura and Laura. I often think of those days when I'm chatting with my current group of Lauras, all mothers of kids in the same second-grade class. Yep, I have a typical name of my generation (born 1969, if you must know). Yet somehow, I don't feel like my name is dated. In...     2008
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Baby Name Pool links updated

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- Apologies to those Internet Explorer users who had trouble accessing the Baby Name Pool contest. The links should work now, so go enter those predictions!     2008
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If the Baby Name Pool link isn't working for you...

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- It seems that links on the main page of BabyNamePool.com aren't working for folks with certain versions of Internet Explorer. I'll get it sorted out, but in the meantime you can jump directly to the ballot page:http://babynamewizard.com/babynamepool/entryform2007.html(or use Firefox)And if you're not familiar with the Pool, check out last week's post!Thanks,Laura     2008
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Enter the Baby Name Pool

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- Calling all Namies! Put your baby name prowess to the test by entering the Baby Name Pool.The Pool is my annual contest that rewards canny observers of names, style and culture. Perhaps you've taken note of the attractive name of a hot new singer. Or you've met three different babies who share a formerly unusual name. Or maybe you just have a hunch that Madison's days are numbered, while Madigan i...     2008
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That other name in the race

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- In December, I tapped Barack as my official Baby Name of the Year. But there's another significant name story in the Democratic race. Hillary Clinton has already swayed the naming of thousands of American babies.In the late 1980s, Hillary was a fashionable contemporary name for girls. Two spellings (Hillary, Hilary) were equally popular, both ranking around #250 in national popularity. Then Bill C...     2008
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Media call: Name-seeking parents

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- A media outlet wants to interview couples who are currently agonizing over choosing a baby name.If that describes you -- and you'd be willing to discuss your decision process on the air -- drop me a line with your contact information and I'll put you in touch.     2008
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Part 2: L'Etat, c'est nous

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- When I saw you last, I was suggesting that the growing "obsession" with baby name choices may be more reasonable than it seems. To understand a bit more about this modern naming climate, let's step back a bit to understand what came before. In fact, let's go back a few centuries....You live a traditional village, let's say in England. It's a stable community where multiple generations of a family ...     2008
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A bit of counterpoint

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- I just had a chance to read some of the fascinating discussion on name uniqueness in response to my last column. It reminded me of another post I wrote a few years back, which I thought I'd offer as counterpoint (to myself!):Are you Googleable? (June 2005)     2008
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L'Etat, c'est nous

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- A few months back a New York Times piece took up the burgeoning interest in baby names in France.French names, apparently, are being charted, talked about, and looked at as social indicators.According to writer Elisabeth Vincentelli, the phenomenon reflects "soul-searching in a nation already painfully struggling with how to define its character."Let's take a look at the evidence presented for thi...     2008
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Now playing, your requests: One-hit wonders

iVillage - The Baby Name Wizard -- It's request hour here at WBNW, with this post going out to the listeners...er, readers who asked for some "one-hit wonders."Those are the baby names that made the U.S. top-1000 name charts one year, never to be heard from again.Where did they come from, and where are they now?I've run the calculations and I now have the definitive list of the names that appeared on the charts exactly once from th...     2008
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