"Pie Gallon Palin" is also on the table…
By Just this evening, the wife and I were discussing possible names for the male fetus who’s currently shoving her internal organs into a tight mound of pain beneath her ribs. We’ve settled on a first name — one that’s sure to induce some major-league ass-kickings — but the middle name has vexed us somewhat. In light of recent political events, and 58 percent in jest, I suggested we call the child “Barack” or perhaps even “Hussein.” (I should note that in 2002, I promised a friend that if I could procure a wealthy benefactor to retire my student loans and provide me with a $10,000 annual stipend, I’d be willing to change my legal name to “Albert Qaeda” for five years, with an option to renegotiate after three. The lesson, I suppose, being that I’m not exactly the best person to consult on thise — or really any — life-shaping question. The Palin Baby Name Generator would offer vastly superior advice.)
It seems that others have been having the same conversation, at least so far as “Barack” is concerned.
Curiously, the last eight years have had no discernible effect on the popularity of the name “George.” Ranked #130 by the Social Security Administration in 2000, it only slipped to 147 by 2007. “Karl,” by contrast, plummeted from 564 to 862, while “Richard” lost ground from 65 to 99.
Meantime, if any LGM readers happen to be wealthy benefactors in search of a good cause, I’m willing to consider naming my kid after John Hinderacker.