The name therapist: how growing up with my odd name taught me everything you need to know about yours

A child of Irish and Egyptian immigrants to Canada, Duana Taha became fascinated by names, not least because hers felt awkward at best and impossible at worst. She believed that names explained not only who you were, but where you came from and who you could be. She became a name nerd, and later a name snob, before settling into the role she was born to play—a Name Therapist, giving straight talk baby-and-grown-up-name advice to just about everyone. In a romp through North American naming trends, traditions, and pop culture, Duana brings us the hilarious, insightful, and surprising truths about hipster names in Brooklyn and Malibu, and the most “intelligent” names at Harvard University; digs into the stereotypes about culture and class where names are concerned; and heads backstage to find out the stories behind those supposed stripper names. And if you don’t know what a Starbucks name is, Duana points out why you obviously never needed one.