An important resource is gone

sanctanomina Naming resources,

You guys. I was working on a consultation the other night and couldn’t find what I needed in my trusty Baby Name Wizard book, so I went to babynamewizard.com to use the Name Matchmaker tool, only to find … babynamewizard.com, and all its tools, is no more. I’m devastated.

Laura Wattenberg, the creator of and brain behind The Baby Name Wizard (the amazing book, the amazing site, the site’s amazing tools [Name Matchmaker, Name Finder]) (I’m still thrilled and amazed and so grateful that she wrote an endorsement for my own name book!), had posted recently on her new site, Namerology, that the BNW site had been shut down by its new owners, but I didn’t really think that meant it was *shut down,* like, *not existing anymore* — I figured it just meant it was no longer progressing, it was just staying as it was forever and its info would become outdated.

I used to spend hours reading the threads on the BNW discussion boards, and I’ve used the site’s tools heavily for my own naming and in consultations. Laura still posts great, meaty content on Namerology, and she does have some name tools (but not the kind that offer style matches, which I have learned so much from and really rely on) and a discussion forum that I’ll have to look into some more, but it’s not the same.

When I was working on the consultation and discovered I could no longer access the Name Matchmaker, I went to Nymbler, which was also created by Laura, and was a precursor to the BNW stuff. I hadn’t used it in a while, and was surprised at its new look and the new way it works … I can’t tell yet if I think it will be helpful or not (though it did help me with the particular thing I was working on the other night).

Anyway. This is such an end to era! The baby naming world has suffered a real loss.

The five baby name consultation openings I had for January have been taken, but Theresa is available to help you out! Email her at TheresaZoeWrites@gmail.com to set up your own consultation! (Payment methods remain the same.)

For help with Marian names, my book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon (not affiliate links). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

11 thoughts on “An important resource is gone”

  1. I was so sad when I saw this! I’ve been out of the “baby-naming market” for 3.5 years and was looking for BNW and couple weeks ago. I thought I was crazy or mis-remembering or doing something wrong. 😦 I was hoping to use the sibling style matcher that I’d used before, and I’m pretty sure was on that site. Any recommendations for something similar?

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  2. I totally agree – such a loss! I spent so much time on that site and I even think I remember seeing posts about you naming your boys on those forums?!

    It was such a great place for me to land as a name nerd and then as a new mother!

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  3. I noticed that recently too. It was a kick in the pants to buy the most recent edition of the book, as I had a thrifted first edition that is helpful but definitely super outdated!!

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