THE NAMEBERRY SURVEY: We want to know more about you!

October 22nd, 2009 at 1:04 am

In the surveys you forgot to add the option of no children, just interested names, etc.
I’m a high school student who is not expecting a child (nor do I want one anytime soon), I just have a fascination with names. So I just had to make up some answers, just so you know

But I also wanted to add I love this site and the people on it.

October 22nd, 2009 at 8:03 am

So, full time parent? I’ve still to meet a part time parent. I work, but I am still a parent. I didn’t get further than that question.

October 22nd, 2009 at 8:13 am

Of course all parents are full-time parents. But the wording of any questiion like this is difficult. What works better, do you think?

October 22nd, 2009 at 8:41 am

Oh! I thought of something I’d like to see after I completed the survey LOL (Spaz, I know). I’d love to see a feature where you could make a baby name poll where people can vote thumbs up or thumbs down for each boys or girls name, and there could be an HTML clicky link you can use in message board signatures or for your web site, etc. so people can get to the page. (Very similar to this feature on http://www.babynames.com)

October 22nd, 2009 at 8:48 am

Some problems with the survey: it won’t let you choose your top three options where it asks, and there were no options to click for people who work from home, either full or part-time. I know many, many people who stay home with their kids and can do so because they are making money from home, whether selling on Etsy, or blogging, or working for a party plan business, or some other creative thing. These people tend to be smarter, more creative and more daring in that they’ve gone against the traditional work-or-stay-home choices that you’ve presented in the survey. And I think they’re exactly your audience. When taking my kids to the library or the park, I always recommend your books when I see a pregnant mom. We’ll get into a conversation and it just comes up, along with what they do. It seems likes the ones who already know about the books and/or website are often the ones who have interesting home businesses.

October 22nd, 2009 at 8:53 am

That’s really interesting, Tracey — and of course, Linda and I are two of those moms who work from home! There are all sorts of issues with the wording of any Parenting/Working question. Work outside the home is kind of shorthand for “work for money,” yet people like artists might work very hard and seriously in or out of the home and never make any money. Aaaargh! I’m going to look at the question where you’re supposed to choose three — we might be able to fix.

October 22nd, 2009 at 9:33 am

It keeps throwing me out at the moment. Will try again later.

October 22nd, 2009 at 11:39 am

Yeah, some of the questions presume one is married, sort of. Quite a few teens read the site, and I think they neither are mothers nor have full-time jobs outside the home. I’m over 30 and in a similar situation – of course I have to work, there is no one else but me. I just answered close enough.

I also made a suggestion but not sure how clear it was or how feasible it is. I’d like to be able to hover my cursor over a linked name and get the description without having to click over. I’d also suggest this utility be *optional*, and something you could use when you want and turn off when you don’t want all these links popping up just from moving your cursor around the page.

It might reduce hits to your website, which are probably important from an ad revenue standpoint, but it would make searching names less time-consuming if you wanted to look up a lot of names. Clicking on each name to see the entry, often to find it linked to a main form of the name takes a lot more time and clicks, which you have to back your way out of or open a lot of tabs to keep track of what you saw. Sometimes it’s not worth the bother. People would be able to learn a lot more about names they like if it means they don’t have to click to get there.

Thanks for the survey! I look forward to more probing questions of the nameberry community.

October 22nd, 2009 at 11:54 am

I am just about to pop over to take the quiz, but how about rephrasing the full-time parenting question as “Is parenting your sole occupation” or “Are you a working mother/father? (Yes or no.)” Just a suggestion!

October 22nd, 2009 at 1:29 pm

Oh I forgot to add that it would be great to be able to search for a name by it’s meaning. So if I typed in the word “tree” or “goddess” names with those words in their meanings would be displayed.

October 22nd, 2009 at 1:39 pm

Will our zip code be visible to everyone? I’ve disclosed so much already, I feel I should at least keep my actual location private (not that I have concerns about posters here, but I try to be somewhat careful on the internet in general). Thanks! (I’ll answer the survey once I know this.)

October 22nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm

No, zip code won’t be visible — we’re just trying to get a better idea of where U.S. visitors come from. But please, feel free to leave it or anything else you’re not comfortable with blank. Thanks!

October 22nd, 2009 at 1:59 pm

One more reply from me — I just want to elaborate on why I like this site so much. The posters here seem much more sophisticated and well-educated than on other sites (not that I’m really looking at other baby naming sites, but people do discuss baby names on some pregnancy sites that I look at). I honestly cannot believe the young ages of some of these posters who are more articulate and thoughtful than many of the adults posting on news sites, pregnancy sites and similar. So, as for why I use Nameberry, I could have checked the top three choices on that one question!

October 22nd, 2009 at 2:19 pm

Thank you, Dana, that is so nice to hear!

October 22nd, 2009 at 2:47 pm

I especially like that this blog is updated so often. I have you bookmarked so I can check in each week day and see something new.

October 22nd, 2009 at 5:04 pm

Have now completed.

October 22nd, 2009 at 5:29 pm

That was fun! Nameberry is the best!

October 22nd, 2009 at 9:40 pm

The survey worked fine for me — I think I fit nicely into the demograph that’s the most likely to visit a site like this )

October 23rd, 2009 at 8:46 am

My only bit of hesitation (with Survey #2) was with the question: “Has Nameberry helped you find a name for your child?” I don’t have children, am not likely to have children, but I didn’t want to select “No,” because then it looks as though I don’t find Nameberry to be helpful. Which isn’t the case at all! So I selected “Not yet, but I think it will in the future.” Even though the possibility of me having children in the future is unlikely.

October 23rd, 2009 at 8:47 am

Darn it! My work blocks the site for the survey. I’ll try to take it at home!

October 23rd, 2009 at 10:31 am

Just wanted to second ideas from Karen and disa_lan. I like the Meaning search feature of Nameberry a lot, although it’s not really a keyword search so much as “names grouped into similar categories for you.” So I’ll get a huge list of names that mean “joy,” for example, and it is kind of a pain to click each and every one to see its full meaning and place of origin (and occasionally, I have to say, I’ve found a name that doesn’t seem to fit the meaning category it’s in). So being able to hover over a name and see just its meaning and origin would be great, as would a keyword search for meanings. I don’t know anything about how difficult that would be to make though.

October 23rd, 2009 at 10:39 am

Question 5 on the first survey needs more options. I was forced to lie.

October 23rd, 2009 at 11:24 am

The quiz boots you if you have no children? Tacky.

October 23rd, 2009 at 1:13 pm

Moonie, check your computer, if you’re getting “booted” from the survey. I have no children, either, and I certainly wasn’t booted. I suspect you’re experiencing a technical problem at your end.

October 23rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm

Survey not very inclusive, but perhaps you have reasons for that as far as data purposes?
I’d like to include that one reason I love this site is because I appreciate the way the authors are willing to respond to the comments. I always feel like it’s a celebrity talking to me/us (and, you are!) It makes you appear humble and grateful for your audience, which is quite attractive. You also never allow pettiness to affect your answers, which is very professional.
(Don’t feel obligated to respond to this comment based on what I just said, though.)

October 23rd, 2009 at 2:06 pm

On the age of your youngest kid, the options should be “One to Three” and “Four to Ten.” You have “One to Three” and “Three to Ten.” I have a three year old and didn’t know which to put.

I would just put “Stay at Home Parent.” Although it has some issues, since you obviously aren’t restricted to your home, this is a widely used term. “Full-time Parent” is much more controversial (along with “Primary Parent” — I hate that one).

October 23rd, 2009 at 4:11 pm

Well of course I completed the survey but as I am always constantly inquisitive (aren’t I Nephele and Susan?) can I ask what you are hoping to do with the answers? Is it simply trying to tailor the product to the customer, so to speak?

I am out of that intensive parenting thing now (my youngest being thirteen), but I do remember so well when I had six children under 7 years of age, and being ultra sensitive about how I was perceived by the rest of society. I always felt that there was a distinct polarisation at the school gates – the Mothers who Worked and the Mothers Who Stayed at Home. Both were equally insecure and defensive about their positions. It is a shame, and not every woman has a choice (finances or personal circumstances do not allow it), so really, what I am trying to say is that mothers have enough to worry about without having to be categorised, as this adds to their feelings of anxiety and guilt. You only have to look in the newspapers and there are always these articles and surveys (”Babies benefit from mothers going to work”, “Breastfed babies are more intelligent”, etc etc.).

Whatever you put, you are going to upset someone, as you can see from that parent who works part-time and still feels she is a full-time parent!

TRICKY!! I can look back now and laugh, but it is a bit of a minefield. Perhaps it would have been better to leave a black paragraph for people to describe their current circumstances in their own words?

(PS I was not breast fed, and as my mother sweetly says to me, “Imagine just how brilliant you would have been if you HAD BEEN, dear”!

xx

October 23rd, 2009 at 6:45 pm

Just wanted to mention that survey #1 would go to the home page whenever I tried to answer whether I was male or female. So I left it blank. But I am female.

October 23rd, 2009 at 9:59 pm

The one problem I had with the survey was the occupation question, I’m only 17 with no kids and I’m a full-time HS student, so student would have been a good option, other than that the survey and this site is great!

October 24th, 2009 at 10:00 am

The only problem I had with this was the question about work. I am only a young teen, so I don’t work at all. I was forced to lie on this question. Otherwise, this was fun!

October 24th, 2009 at 10:09 pm

I remember this as soon as I clicked submit, but I would love if we could have profiles and the ability to private message people. Having a picture next to your name might make it easier to keep track of everyone. Oh, also, in the forums, if each thread said who started it instead of just the last person to comment that would make it easier to keep track. Oh! And if you could follow certain threads so that you can check back on them if you forget what they were called or whatever… That’s all I can think of for now, all in all, this is an amazing website!

November 19th, 2009 at 7:50 am

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