I'm pregnant, with my third child, and the ultrasound gods did not smile upon me. So whereas I was able to select my previous sons' names (Everett, a family name, and Truman, a presidential name that was distinguished by being both unusual and easily pronounceable) by the time I hit five months, with this baby, I'm lost in a sea of uncertainty -- and I only have a little more than two months to go. I have a girl's name, but for boys, what to do?

So, I've been Googling. A friend suggested "Miles" and "Lowell" and (when paired with my husband's name) I quickly eliminated "Miles Hanson" as far too popular, so much so that it appeared on an IRS publication. Ick. And this is the top result for "Lowell Hanson" ... hmmm. While I ultimately discarded "Lowell" for other reasons, the Google factor was definitely in there.

When other bloggers read the Wall Street Journal's report on baby name Googling, they showed a bit of skepticism; Brian White didn't really believe that brands are competing with baby names, while Marc Perton thought Googling for unique names was, most importantly, not a good SEO strategy.

Haha. When I saw the article I just Googled "Kohler Hanson." Hmm... not bad...

If you have any good ideas, by all means, send 'em my way. You might want to Google first.

This is not that big of a deal, but nevertheless I think it's silly. Federated Department Str. (NYSE:FD) is changing its name to Macy's, and the ticker symbol for its stock will now be "M". While the costs of doing this will be a drop in the bucket for a company of Macy's, nee Federated's size, it doesn't seem like a good use of money: Changing all the signs, all the stationary, the legals fees, etc. So what is their rationale for doing this? According to the Associated Press, "The moves are part of Federated's strategy to focus on building Macy's as a national brand."

Huh? Isn't Macy's already a national brand? The Macy's day parade and all that. It's probably as iconic as any American retailer, with the possible exception of Wal-Mart. Isn't this sort of like Berkshire Hathaway changing its name to "Warren Buffett's Company" to try to enhance Buffett's reputation as a great investor?

This change just seems silly, and I'm surprised that Macy's management doesn't have more important issues to deal with.