The Name Game: When It's You They're Singing About
Having your name show up in a song can be a blessing -- or a curse. Luckily for our contributor Faith Salie, she happens to have a name (and a noun) that, so far, has been sung about pretty positively....
View ArticleFavorite Responses: How Did You Solve the Marriage Last-Name Dilemma?
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View ArticleFreakonomics: What's in a Name?
The latest episode of Freakonomics explores how much your name is your destiny. Host Stephen Dubner discusses the episode and what he learned. Listeners: Is your name your destiny? Let us know here, or...
View ArticleGun Deal; Freakonomics Names; Apes and Humanism; Jay-Z Goes to Cuba
Deals on guns and the budget are being worked out in Washington. We get the latest. Then Stephen Dubner of Freakonomics explains how the name you're given at birth can influence your life path and...
View ArticleThe Role of Names in Racism & Cultural Pride
We've started a discussion about names and race. Specifically, how names may identify our racial and economic profile. The Takeaway talked to Nikisia Drayton about her decision not to name her child a...
View ArticleFor a Name to Change, Mindset Must Come First
Today The Takeaway looked at the controversy surrounding the name of a school in Jacksonville, FL. But that’s just one example in the nation—there are also race-based names attached to creeks, street...
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Can It Be? Parrots Name Their Children, And Those Names, Like Ours, Stick For...
Robert Krulwich/NPRI'm walking down a street. I see a friend. The friend doesn't see me, so I yell, "Hi, Ralph!" Ralph turns. This is what we humans do — we all have names. We learn each other's. If...
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A Little Bird Either Learns Its Name Or Dies
I've been wondering lately, do animals invent names? As in names for themselves? Names for each other? I've always thought that what we do when we call ourselves "Ralph" or "Laura" is unique, something...
View ArticleGoogle Plus Dropped Its Real Name Policy
As of yesterday afternoon you can use almost whatever name you'd like on Google Plus. Since Google launched the network in 2011 users have been supposed to use their real names — a policy that was...
View ArticleOle Miss May Drop its Nickname
Deep in the land of the old Confederacy, one would expect that there might be some symbols that could raise sensitive issues for students at universities that embrace diversity and students of all...
View ArticleThe World's Greatest First Name is Back, as an App
Yesterday I learned that my name (Ethan) had become a messaging app.The stages of response to learning your first name has been turned into a chat app are basically the same as learning you’ve lost out...
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Quiz: Can You Match the Celebrity Name with its Shape?
The Studio 360 mics have captured the profundities and witticisms of many a poet, musician, actor, novelist, and comedian. You’ve heard plenty of these voices, but can you guess which sonic footprint...
View ArticleDo You Regret Your Child's Name?
A recent survey published in The Guardian found that one in five mothers regret their child's name. Listeners share their "namer's remorse." As to be expected with our listeners, things got political...
View Article"Olivia" and "Liam" Are New York City's Most Popular Baby Names
With just days left until the new year, New York City's Health Department has released its annual list of the city's most popular baby names.According to the most recent data available from 2016, for...
View ArticleReading Their Names: A Community Memorial
Reading Their Names will air on WNYC from 10 a.m. to noon, Tuesday March 16.COVID-19 has taken the lives of tens of thousands of people in our area, and we wanted to hold space for that loss, in the...
View ArticleHow "Bich" Became “Beth” – An American Tale
What’s in a name? A lot. A listener's voicemail inspired us to explore the sometimes complicated relationship between our names and our racial and ethnic identities. Host Kai Wright is joined by...
View ArticleName Doppelgangers
What's in a name? We take some time to examine the importance of names with Dr. Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University and author of the bookiGEN: Why Today's...
View ArticleNULL
A one-word magical spell. Several years back, that’s exactly what Joseph Tartaro thought he’d discovered. It was a spell that, if used properly, promised to make one’s problems disappear. And so he...
View ArticleHello, My Name Is
As a species, we’re obsessed with names. They’re one of the first labels we get as kids. We name and rename absolutely everything around us. And these names carry our histories, they can open and close...
View ArticleEven in a melting pot, uncommon names can boil over
Names are much more than a means of identification. They have rich personal and cultural significance that when mispronounced, misconstrued, or judged, can lead to lower self-esteem or a feeling of...
View ArticleFamily People
In 2021, editor Alex Neason's grandfather passed away. On his funeral program, she learned the name of his father for the first time: Wilson Howard. Not Neason. Howard. And when she asked her family...
View ArticleWhat's in a Hyphenated Married Name?
Rachel Gutman-Wei, supervisory senior associate editor at The Atlantic asks, "Why does a silly little hyphen make so many people uncomfortable, or unsettled, or even—God...
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