Selecting Your Baby’s Names Based Upon Google Vanity
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007;
-- Andy Beal |
Ok, I think people are starting to go a little too far with their search engine identity management - aka vanity searches.
The WSJ reports that some parents-to-be are actually selecting baby names based upon the chances the name will rank well in Google.
So when Ms. Wilson, now 32, was pregnant with her first child, she ran every baby name she and her husband, Justin, considered through Google to make sure her baby wouldn’t be born unsearchable. Her top choice: Kohler, an old family name that had the key, rare distinction of being uncommon on the Web when paired with Wilson. “Justin and I wanted our son’s name to be as special as he is,” she explains.
That’s it, any future child of mine will be called “Marketing Pilgrim Beal”. 
Similar posts you may like...
Save & Share: 
Category: General
Forward: Email This Post
May 9th, 2007 at 8:20 am
They should do exactly the opposed — it’s not funny going to a job interview knowing that because your name is unique, a couple minutes of googling will reveal your private web-life at MySpace and such.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:10 am
[...] Taking it a little far… Filed under: SEO, Google — becki325 @ 2:10 pm Ok, I am all for SEO, but come on. Googling your kids potential names? But, I love Andy’s posts, keeps things interesting - thanks Andy! [...]
May 9th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Let me know how that goes over with the mother of your child lol. If it works I’ll shoot for SEO Refugee Cook for my first born.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:47 am
I’m naming my child Mesothelioma Mortgages. That way she’ll always have a steady revenue stream.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:56 am
[...] Hat tip to Andy Beal. Â [...]
May 9th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Wow, now there’s a missed opportunity for a cool new site or tool: use the Google API to create a site where you can search for a baby name–and it crunches the numbers automatically, using the number of search results.
Add Google Trends data into the mix and perhaps one could predict the future and how often that name would be searched for in the future?
May 9th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
I thought “Marketing Pilgrim” was going to remain a competitive search term for the #1 spot.
Bill that site idea is a good one and easy to monetize.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Well, Jim Boykin was toying with the idea of naming his last child “Page Rank Boykin”
http://www.jimboykin.com/cat-post-ill-be-big-daddy-again/
May 10th, 2007 at 4:09 am
People are crazy? Fortunately in our country you cannot have name which you made up, we have to choose from list of names and if you want some special you need to get confirmation from goverment. Than it is easy to choose from about 350 names total each of them belongs to one day in Callendar so we can celebrate name day. That is advantage and not being listed in SE. At least for child it is better.
May 10th, 2007 at 11:23 am
I love the fact that when Google my name (and surname) all I get is pages of stuff with me in it
May 10th, 2007 at 11:41 am
That is right, I can also find my name and even nick name on first pages of Google.
May 29th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
[...] I’ve seen several posts now about running Google searches and doing keyword research to find baby names that aren’t competitive. Unless you’re starting a baby blog and want to start ranking for the name tomorrow I wouldn’t spend much time worrying about Google competition.  Search personalization will solve the ranking problems of most the John Smiths and Sarah Jones of the world. [...]
August 15th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Read the post a little late. Guess the baby’s already been born by now. Excellent! I’ll start a black hat site named http://www.blackhatkohler.com
Serves them right!