Remember that a child's name should also be intention-revealing. "George" doesn't do much for you there. Consider some examples--
* Pat: one of the least intention-revealing names possible. The name is androgynous; can we assume the child is as well? Should we assume the child does not wish to buck the status quo (wishes to "stand pat")?
* George: doing better. It reveals the sex, at least. There is still the problem that it doesn't say much about what the child does.
* Paul Jr.: This is much clearer. The child's sex is clear, as well as its purpose: a lighter, faster implementation of the original Paul Graham (the original, of course, is kept around for reasons of backwards-compatibility).
To test a baby name:
Imagine a second, very different baby. Will the name work for both babies?
Other examples of good baby names include mCarryOnTheFamilyName, fBiologicalImperativeToReproduce, and Buck.
* Pat: one of the least intention-revealing names possible. The name is androgynous; can we assume the child is as well? Should we assume the child does not wish to buck the status quo (wishes to "stand pat")?
* George: doing better. It reveals the sex, at least. There is still the problem that it doesn't say much about what the child does.
* Paul Jr.: This is much clearer. The child's sex is clear, as well as its purpose: a lighter, faster implementation of the original Paul Graham (the original, of course, is kept around for reasons of backwards-compatibility).
To test a baby name: Imagine a second, very different baby. Will the name work for both babies?
Other examples of good baby names include mCarryOnTheFamilyName, fBiologicalImperativeToReproduce, and Buck.