The Complex Art of Naming a Baby

This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.

In 1888, contributor for a “science of names.” “Parents … are strangely careless and unscientific in giving names to children,” the contributor complained. “They forget that not only from the social point of view it is very advantageous to have one’s name remembered, but that from the business point of view notoriety is capital, and must be obtained by persistent and ingenious advertising.” Indeed, the contributor argued, a good name will give a child “a start in life equivalent to a cash capital of at least fifteen thousand dollars.” One way to ensure this head start? “Be guided by euphonic quality only.” (A combined are apparently best.)