I've had a lot of articles stewing in my mind lately, and one that I wanted to start with was this: What in the world happened to the Baby Name Wizard?
After all, I helped out with the website for years and have lots of links here on Nameisms (that are now broken!) pointing to it. Baby Name Wizard was a wildly successful, useful site for anyone researching our cultural associations with different names.
What happened to it isn't my story to tell, but I can tell you this - Baby Name Wizard still exists in more ways than one. Spearheaded by Laura Wattenberg*, the Wizard herself, the
Baby Name Wizard books are still an invaluable resource for mapping popularity and how we Americans feel about each name. Meanwhile, the beloved
NameGrapher lives on! You can also find articles by the insightful Ms. Wattenberg, as well as maps, games and lots more on her site.
What made Baby Name Wizard so special was that it went beyond simply telling you how popular a name was. It helped explain the why behind our naming choices, exploring the cultural trends, impressions, and associations that shape how we see names. Whether you were looking for a name for your own baby or were simply a name enthusiast (like me!), it offered a fascinating way to look at names through a whole new lens. That's a legacy worth celebrating!
I had an exceptionally wonderful experience working with Laura, whether I was brainstorming themed name lists for the blog or editing entries for Namipedia (which included some pretty wild entries, let me tell ya!). I learned so much from that experience, and it influenced not only my work on this little blog but also my professional life!
Here ya go:
Namerology by Laura Wattenberg (the Baby Name Wizard!)
Under the Namerology umbrella, you can find:
and lots more! Please enjoy browsing around. And excuse the mess in my previous posts, where you'll find broken links to the old Baby Name Wizard site. I'll work on getting those fixed soon!
*please note, while my given name is also Laura, I am
NOT the Baby Name Wizard!
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