Baby names

(Though it's not the names of babies I'm concerned about, so much as their name when they grow up.)

The SSA website has some simple data queries for names. (I'd prefer access to the raw data and wonder if that's also available online.) Julian was born in 2007, and part of our goal was to pick a name that wasn't outlandish, but also wasn't all that popular. We settled on the 65th-most popular name given to boys in that year (in the US). I think we're catching an upward trend: Of course, this is rank (i.e. "200" means the 200th most popular name), so increased popularity is down. I'd prefer to plot "% of total boys given that name", if I could figure out how to extract that.

I'm surprised that there's only a factor of 3 difference between the most popular name (Jacob, in 2007 just over 1% of all boys) and Julian (about 0.3%). Anecdotally, it seems like everyone has a Jacob, Michael or Ethan, and I don't think I've met another J in his generation. Perhaps they're all in a different demographic, together on a distant social island.

For boys, the popularity decay constant over rank is at 52 (that is, the 52nd-most popular name is 1/e (37%) as popular as the 1st), suggesting that (in the first moment, at least) there is more variety in boys' names than girls: for girls, the 30th most popular name is 1/e as popular as 1st. Or, slicing another way, the 65th most popular girls name (Jennifer) was a factor of 5 less popular than number 1. I'm sure the Freakonomics guys have a theory about the difference in distribution, perhaps having to do with sex equality and Ivy League admissions.

Brewzilla 2009

I attended Brewzilla 2009 this weekend, the culmination of Cleveland's Beer Week, which I otherwise celebrated by being especially snobby in any discussions of beer and hacking my wine fridge to store ales vertically.

I'll give the event a 50% approval rating. There were a fair number of tasty choices, and not bad people-watching (particularly after the kegs started to float). And, the setting was a fun idea (at the old Arcade, with tasting stations set up in each storefront). However, there was a lot of useless filler on the beer list, it was too loud (or I'm too old) and there wasn't really enough room to taste and chat. They issued drink tickets, which were applied with the same formality as we used to use drink tickets at undergrad parties.

I did enjoy having access to attempts from the small, local micros (Indigo Imp, Buckeye/BeerEngine). Although I hope to see another one next year (this was the first "annual"), I'll probably spend my money on one of the smaller, brewery-sponsored events like Victory night at The Cave.

Hey look, I appeared in an event photo on Metromix. Used without permission.


I haven't seen anyone post the beer list yet. Let's see if I can scan and OCR the printed one I received at the event for future googlers.

Cleveland Brewzilla 2009 Beer List
Founders: Red's Rye, Dirty Bastard
Brooklyn: Local #1, Local #2
Goose Island: Matilda, Pere Jacques, Sophie
Victory: Prima Pils, Hop DevillPA, Yakima Twilight
Bell's: Amber Ale, Sparkling Ale, Double Cream Stout
Dogfish Head: Raison D'Etre, Red &White, Festina Peche
Troegs: Troegenator Double Bock, HopBack Amber
Hoppin' Frog: Silk Porter, Hopmaster's Abbey Belgian Double IPA
Chimay: Premier Re, Grande Reserve Blue
Stone: Levitation Ale, Arrogant Bastard Ale, Old Guardian Barley Wine Ale, Smoked Porter
Ithaca: Alpha Alpha, Apricot Wheat , Cascazilla
Southern Tier: 422 Pale Wheat Ale, Hop Sun
Magic Hat: #9 , Seasonal
Weyerbacher: Merry Monks Abby Tripel, Old Heathen
Pyramid: Haywire Hefeweizen
Sierra Nevada: Pale Ale, Chico Estate Ale
Miller/Coors: Killians, Blue Moon Belgian White
Samuel Adams: Boston Lager, Octoberfest, Imperial Stout
Bluegrass: American Pale Ale, Queen's Knickers, Bourbon County Stout
Leinenkugel: Sunset Wheat, Hazelnut Brown
Anheuser-Busch: Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde, Stella Artois
Ommegang: Abbey Ale, Hennepin, Adoration, Biere de Mars
Thirsty Dog: 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale, Siberian Night, Cerebrus, Pumpkin Ale Unfiltered
Fat heads brewery: Sonoma Aroma, Bumble Berr, Oktoberfest, Shock the Monkey
Indigo Imp: Winter Solstice, Gatekeeper, Blonde Bombshell, Jester
The Brewkettle: Red Eye PA, Tripel, Jack Hammer Barleywine, Old 21 IPA
Buckeye: Commemorative Brown Ale, Hippie lPA, Heidi, 76 IPA
GLBC: Dortmunder Gold Lager, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Commodore Perry IPA, Christmas Ale
Dixie: Blackened Voodoo, Lager
Hook & ladder: Golden Age, Backdraft Brown
Abita: Turbodog, Purple Haze, Amber
Avery: IPA, Hog Heaven
Flying Dog: Snake Dog IPA, Gonzo Imperial Porter
Allagash: Tripel, Black
Harpoon: UFO Hefeweizen, Raspberry Hefeweizen
Anderson Valley: Bamey Flats Oatmeal Stout, Hop Ottin’ IPA
New Holland: Mad Hatter IPA, Dragon's Milk
Napa Smith: Wheat Beer, Amber Ale
Ayinger: Celebrator Double Bock
Lindemans: Framboise
Sam Smith: Oatmeal Stout, Stingo
Carlsberg: (ibid), Grimbergen Blonde
Fuller's: london Porter, london Pride
Erie: Railbender Ale
Southampton: Double White Ale
Rogue: Dead Guy Ale, Hazelnut Brown Nectar
Franziskaner: Hefe-Weisse
Spaten: Oktoberfest, Premium Lager
Left Hand: Jackman's Pale Ale, Polestar Pilsner
Two Brothers: Moaten Aemish Red Ale, Heavy Handed IPA
Clipper City: Heavy Seas loose Cannon, Heavy Seas Winter Storm
Unibroue: Raftman, Ephemere
Jolly Pumpkin: Luciernaga "The Firefty", Bam Biere, la Roja, Maracaibo Especial