It is of interest to me that my book has had such international appeal. After all, it is a book about U.S. baby names pulled from U.S. records, but I’ve done interviews with radio shows and magazines in the UK, New Zealand, Brazil, and now Canada.

I just finished a spot on the “Joe” show, 92.5 FM in Edmonton with Rhubarb Jones and J’lyn Nye. It was a lot of fun. Maybe that’s because my book resonated with host Rhubarb. Lucky for him, vegetable names (and food names in general) are not unheard of (remember these: Sandwich Green, Hero Brat, Mayo Head, Tuna Fish, Bread White?).

In any case, I’m grateful for the international support and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. People everywhere are looking for a good chuckle.

Go world.

Posted: December 10th, 2008 under Nothing Special.
Comments: 3

Two days ago, my wife (who rocks, by the way) gave birth to our second son:

 What did we name him?

Dungeon Dragon Gygax of course.

…

Just kidding. Actually, his name’s Eli. Man, wouldn’t it rock to have a kid named Dungeon Dragon? According to my co-author, Michael Sherrod, men often want to name their kids funny things, which is why I say that and my awesome wife rolls her eyes. (Michael’s example is giving your kid the middle name “danger.” No really, check out the article about us in the New York Times, if you haven’t already. I just saw it today because, well, my wife was having a baby.)

Incidentally, there is no one in the U.S. federal census named Dungeon and only a smattering of Dragons. Too bad, I guess.

Posted: March 12th, 2008 under Name Media, Nothing Special.
Comments: 13

I came across this video which, considering our topic, was quite apropos. Enjoy:

Posted: January 4th, 2008 under Name Media, Nothing Special.
Comments: 1

It seems like every blog has to have its “mission statement” post at the beginning, explaining the premise, rules, and so forth. As I have never been one to shirk the heavy weight of obligation, here’s mine.

This blog was created in order to support and supplement my book, Bad Baby Names: The Worst True Names Parents Saddled Their Kids With–And Now You Can Too!, co-authored with Michael Sherrod and with illustrations by Joey Gates (you can see the link to Joey’s website on my blogroll, along with a plethora of other good sites).

That book deals with truly terrible names that have shown up in historical documents (like the U.S. federal census) and this blog will explore a lot of stuff surrounding that, from information about names and naming, general baby naming stuff, random weird things that relate to names, and (I think) most interesting, historical and genealogical examinations of real people who had really bad names.

I want this to be a very interactive blog, where you the reader can contribute, so always watch for calls for information, pics, questions, and so on

Oh, and I’m not against shameless self-promotion. If you haven’t bought my book yet, go buy it (it’s only $9.95). And if it’s not out yet, wait for it and then go buy it. It’ll be released in March 2008 by Ancestry Publishing. So there you go. I’ve fulfilled my obligation to the blogging gods.

Posted: December 14th, 2007 under Nothing Special.
Comments: 1