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NAMEBERRY SURVEY SAYS: Some Thoughts About Your Thoughts

globeflagsFirst of all, we want to thank all of you who took the time to reply to our survey and for your thoughtful responses.  We were gratified by the results in many ways, not least  in demonstrating the widespread reach of nameberry—we heard not only from such primarily English-speaking countries as Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania, but also from readers from as far afield as  Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Norway, Israel, Bulgaria, United Arab Emirates, and Korea.

One thing that was especially gratifying to us was the number of people who answered the question “What else would you like to see on nameberry?” with phrases like ”Nothing–just keep doing what you’re doing” and “It’s perfect as it is” and “Nameberry is by far the best baby-name site out there!”  Thanks!

Also heartwarming to us was the fact that the greatest percentage of  people checked the option ‘It’s more original and more wide-ranging than any other site” and that the feature rated number one was the blogs.  But  to those who asked for more of them–as in seven days a week–all we can say is ay-yi-yi!–we’re pedaling as fast as we can as it is!

As for the rest of the suggestions for the site, we’re parsing them carefully with an eye to their feasibility, especially those on the  tech side.  As might be expected, there were a few contradictory requests –more authors’ opinions  vs more strictly objective information, more attention to celebrity babies vs. less, etc.  We’ve already begun to add more ethnic names–with pronunciations–to the data base, as per several requests, and taken note of the fact that some felt  boys’ names weren’t getting their fair share of attention.  For the rest, we’ll continue to sift and sort and accommodate as much as we can.  You had tons of good ideas.

A couple of requests we’re afraid we can’t fulfill, however–those from the people who requested “free beer” and “virtual chocolate.”  Welll…maybe we can manage the virtual chocolate.

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30 Responses to “NAMEBERRY SURVEY SAYS: Some Thoughts About Your Thoughts”
Charlotte Vera Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 1:57 am

Seven days a week of blogs would be wonderful, but I’m super-impressed by how well you manage five as it is. Keep up the good work!

abbey Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 6:04 am

I don’t think you need to be writing more articles. I love saving them up for a week then coming and reading all of them at once :) Quantity doesn’t necessarily make for a better site.

So glad to have responded to your survey. I adore this site :)

Patricia Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 7:38 am

After completing your survey, I came up with a question/concern. How can readers contact you with input on a name? I’ve been researching the name Chloe recently, as parents-to-be who are close to me are planning to name their baby Chloë. In your listing for variations of the name, the diaeresis is mistakenly put over the ‘o’ instead of the ‘e’. (Nameberry “Variations: Khloey, Cloie, Clo, Cloey, Chloie, Chlöe, Chloee, Kloe, Cloe, Khloe, Cloei” ). A diaieresis is always put over the second of two vowels to indicate the second vowel is pronounced separately. Too, I wouldn’t call a list of incorrect spellings of the name “variations”. I think that’s very misleading for parents looking for a name for their baby. The only accurate ways to spell the name are Chloë or Chloe. A few weeks ago I sent Nameberry an email about this, but as I’ve had no response, nor has “Chlöe” been corrected, it think it must not have reached you.

So that’s my concern in general — that non-standard spellings are listed as “variations” of a name, which could promote the use of such spellings by parents who rely on Nameberry for their baby naming information. (I just checked out Nicholas and found a very long list of “variations” — some truly horrible conglomerations among them. If you want to — and I’m not sure why — show every strange way a name has been written, perhaps there should be a disclaimer that many of these “spellings” are sub-standard.)

Other than that concern, I think your website is one of the very best baby name sites. I am amazed at your blog — that you can come up with very interesting and well-written entries day after day, 5 days a week. I’m sure it’s a challenge to keep doing so.

Erin Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 10:33 am

Patricia:

I understand what you’re trying to say, but just because a name spelling isn’t the norm doesn’t mean it’s sub-standard. I’ve never been a fan of “alternate” or “unique” spellings myself, but they do have a place on this site, as many parents ARE interested in them. And it is a “variation” of the name, because it’s not a new name unto itself, but just a different spelling based off the original name.

linda Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 10:45 am

Patricia–We will get Chloe fixed asap. As the mother of a Chloe myself, I understand the problem well.

SJ Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 10:58 am

I agree with Erin… I’m not a big fan of “spelling a name differently just to be different” but if a variation is common enough I think it ought to be listed.

I see Patricia’s point about the accent mark… diaeresis… though. If parents want to start adding umlauts, accents, apostrophes, etc. to names that’s their business, but showing the mark over the o in Chloe on this site, especially if it’s not a common spelling, might give parents the mistaken impression that it’s a grammatically valid arrangement. It’s really more of an artistic choice, it seems.

I wonder if there’s a way to indicate something like “modern variations” of a name? As opposed to international or historical ones… I think there’s no way the site would be listing them as “sub-standard,” though. :)

Patricia Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 11:29 am

Linda, thanks for your response. Is there a way that you can indicate that just because a “variation” is listed, that doesn’t mean all those spellings have Nameberry’s stamp of approval? Perhaps there could be three categories: Variations, New spellings (maybe only the ones turning up in the SSA top 1000), and International variations.

Thus for your listing for Chloe:
Variations: Chloë
New spellings: Khloe, Cloe
International variations: Chloé

I think a listing of that sort would make it clear to parents what the usual/standard spelling of the name is; what variants, if any, are commonly used; what new spellings are being used with some degree of frequency; and any international variants of the name. It also would not give parents the impression that a name can be spelled any old way and still be the same name or give them so many ideas for misspelling the name.

This may be too complex, but parents would not have the mistaken impression that Chloe and Cloe, let alone Cloey, Chloie, and Chloee, are the very same name. They may all sound the same, but once seen, the names (and the namers) will often be perceived differently. I may be especially sensitive to this with Chloe/Chloë because the name has a rich history (biblical, Puritans, Greek mythology, classical revival, pastoral poets…), and yet with spellings such as Chloee and Khloey the name loses its substance and becomes just a ’sound’ that has caught on recently.

I’ve known that you chose the name Chloe for your daughter. What better recommendation could there be?

Linda Rosenkrantz Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 11:44 am

I really like your idea and agree with what you say, but, realistically, it would be an enormous challenge technically and temporally, to reconfigure a large percentage of 50,000+ name listings!

Patricia Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 12:25 pm

Linda, I can see your dilemma… Perhaps when you update your “Baby Name Bible” someday :-) , you can revise that aspect of it.

BTW, I noticed in “Baby Name Bible” the description of Zoe — also a Greek name often written with a diaeresis over the second vowel — begins with ” Zoe (or Zoë)…”.

Maybe you could do the same with Chloe on your website: “Chloe (or Chloë), pretty Greek name…” That would then separate an alternate way of writing the name out from all the “variations” in spelling. I think that would more accurately present the name: Chloe and Chloë are alternate ways of writing the name; the “variations” are attempts to write the name phonetically/uniquely; Chloé is the International/French way to write the name.

Alice Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 12:32 pm

I love this site and I really look forward to coming on seeing what the blog is for the day. Thankyou so much for nameberry!

linda Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 12:35 pm

Thank YOU!

Gracie Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 1:26 pm

I love the site and said so when I completed the questionnaire. It certainly brightens up my long nights up with the endless feeds/cuddles with my 4 month old triplets and though I can’t always post, I do love reading. :) I just want to say THANK YOU for all your hard work, it is hugely appreciated and should be recognised :)

Gracie

MeLuLo Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 2:31 pm

I adore your site.

Nephele Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 3:03 pm

The blog is my favorite thing about Nameberry, too! Blog entries are not only informative, but also entertainingly witty. I’m finding myself logging onto the Nameberry Blog first thing most mornings [i]before[/i] I check out the online news sites!

Second best thing about Nameberry (for me) is the Nameberry names database. As an anagrammatist, I have to say that I adore discovering new variations of favorite old names, thanks to this site. My only wish is that the browsing list for the names database might someday include more than 20 names at a time. I’d really love it if, when I click on the supersearch option for girls’ names beginning with a particular letter, I could get maybe a list of 100 results at a time (instead of 20).

Third best thing about Nameberry is the community to be found in your forums. We have a wonderful crowd here, who (I believe) take their cue from the friendly, open-minded, and wise founders of this site — Pam and Linda. Cheers to you both, on what you’ve created and foster here!

– Nephele

Elisabeth Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

I visit this site because I find it interesting/entertaining. But it was hard for me to accurately complete your survey because I’m neither married nor pregnant. What, no love for the plan-to-be-pregnant-one-day?

linda Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 3:28 pm

Yes–lotsa love!

peach Says:

November 4th, 2009 at 3:32 pm

I appreciate nameberry as much for fun and original blog articles as for the amount, accuracy, and completeness of name information it provides. I echo Patricia’s interest and concern in the way the website purposefully or inadvertently legitimizes non-standard spellings. I advocate for some distinction between international versions of a name and “modern,” phonetic, or made-up spellings.

This site has already come up with innovative ways to promote discussion and education on naming I’m sure a way to include this, important piece, can be found as well. Yay, for more pronunciation guides!

susan Says:

November 5th, 2009 at 12:54 am

I love Nameberry so much! It is my dream come true. All I need now is some chocolate to be completely happy.

Hezz Says:

November 5th, 2009 at 1:22 am

I didn’t get a chance to respond to the survey. I love your site. Participating in the blogs helped me choose my second daughter’s name.

One thing that is missing (which surprised me because of how comprehensive the site is in almost every other way) is pronunciations for each name in the database. I know others have already mentioned this as well, I just wanted to add my voice to the mix.

Thanks for creating a great site that is easy to use and has tons of resources for namers!

linda Says:

November 5th, 2009 at 2:17 am

Hezz–we have started the process of adding pronunciations —it might be a looooooong while before it’s completed.

linda Says:

November 5th, 2009 at 2:17 am

PS–We’d love to know the name you picked for your daughter.

Tracey Says:

November 6th, 2009 at 1:06 am

I’ll echo the request for pronunciation on some lesser-known names, as well. I know a family who named their son “Alaric” and pronounces it “uhLARic” and another family who named their son the same thing, but calls him “ALuhrick”.

I am interested in what Patricia suggests, too. When I was searching for baby names the previous three times, I would have been terribly chagrined if I’d tried to select a rarely-given, historic baby name, only to have chosen a wackadoo spelling by mistake. Like “This is my daughter AnnaEes.” Would look great on her application to Harvard, I’m sure.

I also know someone who named her daughter Levi, 15 years ago, without realizing it’s usually a boy’s name. And she doesn’t live in an area where being avant garde is done much, so instead of coming across as super-cool, she came across as just the opposite.

mhopman Says:

November 10th, 2009 at 1:37 pm

Love the blog! I would like to see a way to search for a full name based on the nickname. Or if that is already here please let me know!

Something else I would like to see would be a REAL top 1000 or 500 baby name list. The SSA list is great but I think that one problem is the same name with variations in the spellings are listed seperately. I think this is necessary for the SSA and I am glad to see it. But I think that Nameberry should make a list with the variations in spellings added up to make a new list. Some names are way more popular than they appear, such as Aidan/Aiden/etc. If you take the first two spellings, Aidan and Aiden and add them together it is more popular than Jacob. I realize this will get tricky but I think you can do it!

linda Says:

November 10th, 2009 at 4:41 pm

I think that’s an excellent idea about the REAL top name list, combining variations.

LaurelMae Says:

November 10th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

There was one thing I forgot to put on the survey: I’d like it if you could put the author of each post somewhere on it, so we know who’s talking! I know you label the guest bloggers’ posts, but it would be great to see which one of you is writing each post. Or do you collaborate extensively on each one, so it makes sense to not label them?

linda Says:

November 10th, 2009 at 5:34 pm

Do you mean Pam and my blogs?

Julia Says:

November 10th, 2009 at 7:58 pm

I love the blog, and its great that ethnic names will be introduced!

I just thought I would quickly point out (to avoid any confusion) that Tasmania is actually an Australian State and not a country.

Elle Says:

November 11th, 2009 at 5:26 am

There is a website with the names grouped by the actual name and not the spelling like SSA does. Here is a link to it. They have a boy and girl page.
Boy
http://namenerds.com/uucn/top08xy.html
Girl
http://namenerds.com/uucn/top08xx.html

I also did an article for cafemom about all the “aden”, “aley” and “lyn” names and what I found out was insane! The amount of name on the SSA list with those endings was astounding to me. They are getting ready to take over! Haha!

Pamela Redmond Satran Says:

November 11th, 2009 at 8:19 am

Can I just throw out there that anyone who would like to do the math and add up the number of babies with the same name under different spellings to get a “real” popularity list is very welcome to do it, and nameberry would be delighted to run it as a guest blog!

LaurelMae Says:

November 16th, 2009 at 9:07 am

Linda: Yes, that’s what I meant! :)

Pam: Oh, if I only had the time, what a fun project that would be!

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