Is American parenting culture coming to the point where baby names are selected for being "Googly?" That means, of course, how easy it would be to find a name using Google. While there are no doubt tech-obsessed parents who are probably planning the future Googlability of their kids, I'm quite sure the vast majority of the American public could care less about baby names that contain the best "Google" factor.

Newer names that seem to get more inventive (and complex) every year are a way for parents to try and differentiate their kids right from the start. This is great and is to be expected, as is the choice of more traditional names for parents' progeny. After that first step, intense parental competitiveness takes over in those conversations with neighbors and relatives. This is all nothing new, just the modes of delivering this message can sometimes be, as in the form of "honor student" stickers on cars and trucks recently.

I'm still unconvinced that even the 20-something digerati these days are considering a "Google" factor into new babies as part of some kind of slide into embracing the digital-ness of the new information world we all live in. The Wall Street Journal has a different take, as opinion there states that you may be a "nobody" without a name that Googles well. This sounds slightly absurd to me, not totally, but just slightly. Do you agree with a couple who wanted to name their child Kohler (an old family name) that was Google-shared with a line of plumbing items like faucets and toilets? So now brands are competing with family names? Sigh.