Reviewed by Renée Bosman, Government Information Librarian

This book caught my eye while reading Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. After reading the interesting chapter on baby-naming patterns, I found this book in the footnotes, and thought I'd explore the topic further. Lieberson, a sociologist at Harvard, became fascinated with the social process behind baby names when he and his wife named their daughter Rebecca, which, unbeknownst to them, was a very popular name at the time. Years later, he began research on the concept of naming patterns as fashion, though unlike other cultural fashions such as clothing and entertainment, there are no ties to commercial influences. (After all, there are no corporations with "Emma" advertising campaigns). Lieberson explores two influences on changes in baby name tastes — social forces and internal mechanisms — and creates a compelling, entertaining, and well-researched study. Over the course of the book, he tackles such interesting issues as the rise in popularity of the name Jennifer in the 1970s and the influence of the entertainment industry on naming patterns (which is not as pervasive as you might think). Due to both the surprising subject matter and Lieberson's engaging writing style, this is one scholarly publication that is a pleasure to read.

Cabell Library CS2367 .L54 2000