Capitalize on the first-mover advantage of having unique name

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Capitalize on the first-mover advantage of having unique name

Good parenting 2.0Capitalize on the first-mover advantage of having unique name

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13 March, 2008
6 comments
by Alexandra Samuel

Yesterday I Googled each of our kids for the first time, in the form "John Smith".

No, we did not name our kids John Smith. And here's why: there are 4,640,000 results for "John Smith" on Google.

But for each of our kids? None. Zero. Zip.

Sure, our kids may eventually complain that we took them to MacWorld instead of Disney World. Or that we spent too much time blogging, when we could have been bonding.

But they will never, ever have to worry about being unfindable on Google.

And isn't that what good parenting is all about?

Comments

Rob Cottingham says

March 13, 2008 - 9:39pm

Zero results on Google: aren't they unfindable now? :-) (And "is that a good thing or a bad thing, daddy?")

My kids have pretty unique names too. Having an unusual last name helps ;-) For what it is worth, my 11-year-old does not complain that I spend too much time blogging, she complains that I don't spend enough time adding the plugins she wants to *her* blog, or helping her with her CSS. My 7-year-old complains if I don't spend enough time helping him with his programming. It's an interesting world they're growing up in.

Fern R says

March 18, 2008 - 5:19pm

I have a pretty unusual first name (Fern) and even when I google my first and last name inside quotation marks, nothing related to me is in the top results. So, I guess my point is, don't be so sure that giving your child an unusual name will ensure that they can be easily found with Google.

pooja says

March 31, 2008 - 5:33am

hi... nice thought..thanks for sharing.. but Good parenting is not just about having your kids name on google... right ? goodparenting.co.in

Rob Cottingham says

March 31, 2008 - 1:03pm

Good lord, no. There's also ensuring that they use a good, standards-compliant browser and that they never, ever engage in comment spam. Other than that, though, what else is there?

Anonymous says

June 2, 2009 - 8:59am

Good if she / he ever gets a car and wants a cheap personlised number plate....

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