Fascinating names

[sarahmichigan]

I've always been interested in names: variations on names, name origins, the meanings of names. I used to pore over a book of baby names when I was a kid, the one that my mother used to name me. I used to search for just the right name for the characters in my stories.

So, I found the pair of articles recently posted at slate.com to be of great interest. One was about names and race:

http://www.slate.com/id/2116449/

And the other was about names and class:

http://www.slate.com/id/2116505/

Comments

[jenx.livejournal.com]

The first one is quite good (haven't read the second), especially since the author indicates that name doesn't determine "destiny", but is correlated to economic factors. Well done! It REALLY irritates me when correlational data is presented as causative.

[leighton.livejournal.com]

The 1st one is great. My sister and I have crossover names and consequently grew up with friends of other races with the same name.

[aedifica]

ooh, neat!

As I've been packing, I've put in I think four books on linguistics for the layperson and two on the language and symbolism of names. :)

[dare2grok.livejournal.com]

Wow! Your mom used a book of baby names to name you? My mom only used two names in naming me: Dannie and Lee. You must have a gargantuanly long name then.

Yes, this was a completely ridiculous and silly jest based on an intentional misinterpretation of what you said. Have a good day.

Dan