Before You Name That Baby

Ever wonder why there is so many people around you with the same name? I do. Thanks to NameTrends.net, I discovered that my first name “Jeffrey” was a name given to many baby males during the time frame of 1945-1993 with peaks in 1961 and 1968. I was born in 1983. That is quite a lot of Jeffrey’s.

NameTrends sources its data from the social security records which are publicly available and contains the national popularity of each of the top 1000 male and female names for each year since 1880. It also contains state-specific popularity of the top 100 male and female names for each year since 1960. The state-level popularity data is only available for the top 100 names in each state so keep that in mind when your browsing around the state map. NameTrends also provides visual data that allows you to see similar names or variations of names over time.

According to NameTrends, the following names were also popular during the same time frame:

  • Randy
  • Brenda
  • Wendy
  • Brent

Those names which were popular and began with the same letter as mine include:

  • Jacob
  • Joshua
  • Joseph
  • James
  • Jayden

Looking at the state by state popularity map for my name, I discovered that in 1983 (the year I was born) the closest I came to being number 1 in the top 100 names was Connecticut and Massachusetts, both ranked at number 17.

Considering I have already been named, it is not going to do me much good but I find it interesting how my first name was popular in the 1940s to the 1980s and now it has started to die off. I wonder if that is because of the baby boomer generation finally beginning to level off or if my name simply isn’t popular to use anymore.

Dive into the site and report back with your findings related to your name. The data is confined to U.S. residents only.

Babytalk In The 21st Century

As I was listening to Leo Laporte on his Tech Guy radio show, I noticed how he tried to pronounce a variety of different Web 2.0 company names and in the end, he mentioned that it sounded like a bunch of baby talk. I have to admit, listening to Leo try to say the names of these companies was hilarious. That’s when I got the idea to feature a list of Web 2.0 companies who’s names are nothing short of googlymoogly.

Not only is it sometimes hard to pronounce these names, but after you figure them out, the question then becomes, what do they do? I’ve taken an excerpt from each companies About page, as they would be the ones to best explain what the heck their company does.

If I missed any, be sure to let me know by leaving a comment at the end of this article.

Vyew Logo

vyew – Vyew is a next-generation online collaboration and web conferencing service that brings people and content together. With Vyew you can host LIVE conferences and work collaboratively on content asynchronously over time, ANYTIME.

Vizu Logo

vizu – Vizu provides services that make online opinion polling and market research easy, fast, accessible, and affordable to everyone.

Musio Logo

muiso – Muiso (pronounced MOO-EE-SO) is the best new way to enjoy music on your computer or mobile player.

Philoi Logo

philoi – Philoi (pronounced ‘fee – loy’) is the first person-to-person online bookmark sharing community!
Stay connected with your friends and the Web at the same time!

Jamendo Logo

jamendo – jamendo is a new model for artists to promote, publish, and be paid for their music.

Diigo Logo

diigo – Diigo (dee’go) is about “Social Annotation”. By combining social bookmarking, clippings, in situ annotation, tagging, full-text search, easy sharing and interactions, Diigo offers a powerful personal tool and a rich social platform for knowledge users, and in the process, turns the entire web into a writable, participatory and interactive media.

Chuquet Logo

chuquet – chuquet scans thousands of blogs to find the latest and biggest news stories

Bloggoogle Logo

bloggoggle – Peer rated and categorized, bloggogglers are searching the Web’s credible best and asserting themselves among them. It’s about building and sharing networks of industry expertise. It’s about navigating the pros efficiently and communicating your value with authority.

Filangy Logo

filangy – No longer Online so I suppose it’s available.

Tedda Logo

YeddaYedda strives to merge the convenience and efficiency of search with the unlimited value of individual knowledge to get you the best answers to your questions.

Qumana Logo

QumanaQumana Software, Inc. is a leading developer of tools and services for bloggers.

IMVU logo

Imvu – IMVU is a consumer internet startup in downtown Palo Alto. IMVU makes the world’s best 3D instant messenger, which is now in beta testing with more than 1 million customers around the world.

Edgeio Logo

Edgeio – Edgeio is making it possible for valuable content to be made available for sale on any web site. The web site does not need an ecommerce system, or a billing system – edgeio takes care of both

Lulu Logo

Lulu – Lulu eliminates traditional entry barriers to publishing, and enables content creators and owners – authors and educators, videographers and musicians, businesses and nonprofits, professionals and amateurs – to bring their work directly to their audience.

Ookles Logo

Ookles – Another service that apparently has bit the dust but you can get in if you know the password.

Goowy Logo

Goowy – goowy is a service that offers you simple, intuitive tools for communicating and sharing on the web.

My Me Logo

My-me – MyMe is a FREE web-based service that lets you easily create your personal online identity.

Elgg Logo

Elgg – Elgg is an open source social platform based around choice, flexibility and openness: a system that firmly places individuals at the centre of their activities.

Qoop Logo

Qoop – QOOP turns digital content into products.

Etsy Logo

Etsy – Etsy is an online marketplace for buying and selling all things handmade.

If I missed any that you think should of made the list of company names that resemble babytalk, please be sure to add or suggest them by leaving a comment.