Beatrix announced, right before I took this picture, that she was giving up. On what? I still don’t know.

On April 10th, we rolled around the Denver Zoo.

The day was much cooler than the weatherpeoples predicted. Good thing I believe in layers.

The best thing about cooler days at the zoo is that the animals are more active. We watched this grizzly pace and scratch his back on a rock wall. Normally? He’s quite dull, even with those talons on his paws.

The anteater was jogging around the enclosure. Jogging.

These flamingos were still in their indoor winter home. We had to look at them through a window. Flamingos + Colorado = Complete Artifice. Still, they were beautiful and clearly love the shrimp dinners they get here.

Good day.

When we were expecting our first baby, my in-laws gave a baby name book to guide us in our search for the perfect name. They used the book when their three kids were on the way. It’s at least 40 years old and was priced at $1.00. If a Bantam paperback can be an heirloom, this book was a treasure.

It’s called Name Your Baby by Lareina Rule. We have the 16th printing, which demonstrates its extreme popularity at the time. I’ve mentioned before that we got Aidan’s name from this book, which was listed in the GIRL’S half of the book, between Aida and Aileen.

So why aren’t today’s parents thumbing through Name Your Baby any more? The number one reason is because we have the internet providing awesome resources like Baby Name Wizard and Nymbler.

As we discovered yesterday during an impromptu baby name jam, the book is a better source of comedy than inspiration. Here is a list of actual names Ms. Rule suggested to parents of the 1960s and early 70s:

BOYS

Ackerley and its partner, Ackley
Bland (if you know my last name, imagine the two paired…)
Borg (perfect for when I birth a pseudo-race of cybernetic beings who will eat our TV)
Burchard
Cadby
Dagwood
Dempster
Derward (married to Samantha, no?)
Druce
Ennis (my boys rhymed this name with a body part as soon as I read it)
Everard
FRICK
Garnock (maybe if I were birthing a replacement troll for a nearby bridge)
Lunt
Mayo
Orford
Pomeroy
Proctor
Rad (ahead of its time)
Ruck
Rust (the noun, unlike Rusty the adjective)
Senior
Sextus
Stoke
Taffy
Tupper
Turpin
Twitchell
Wenceslaus (maybe if I were giving birth to a kind king of the Dark Ages)

GIRLS

Binga (Old German for binge, Lareina claims)
Doll
Fulvia (we aren’t in ancient Rome any more)
Godiva (chocolate or naked lady, either way iffy)
Hulda
Lasca (knock knock joke waiting to happen)
Prunella

The girls fare much better. They always do. I believe it’s easier to name girls than boys. Think of a flower, plant, jewel, color, virtue, or month. Add the word “belle” to just about anything—Fulviabelle! The name Elizabeth contains approximately 6,000 offshoots and variations. It’s also Aidan’s middle name, which she is free to use at any time.

So far? She’s on Lareina’s side.

Other baby name posts I’ve written:

Ermentrude Cornitzer for President
Otto and Konrad