So I did one faux pas of podcasting here and I completely forgot to ask you to introduce yourself in your title.

Okay, I'm Laura Wattenberg, I'm the author of the baby name wizard books and the founder of Namerology.com.

That's exactly what I was hoping you would say, both of those things.

This is going to be highly edited and it's actually kind of a very interesting show that we're doing, which is not really talking all about names.

It's kind of a weird one.

This here is 20,000 Hertz hosted by Dallas Taylor.

Dallas, it's a name, it's a city in Texas.

It's where the cowboys play, where they're wrong too.

And a Taylor, and that's someone who makes it close fit just right.

Get yourself a bee spoke, tailored suit, and you'll feel like a million buck of ruse.

Now what is a Dallas Taylor?

Well, that all depends on who you ask.

First I just want to say that names are incredibly rich signals.

That whether we realize it or not, every time we hear someone's name, we're forming impressions about a likely age, gender, ethnicity, even socioeconomic status or geography.

That's all part of the impression that comes with a name.

So it's something that you carry around like little social microclimate that shapes the way people respond to you.

So is there any truth to the Dale Carnegie quote that a person's name to that person is the sweetest and most important sound in any language?

I think we're all trained and reinforced literally every day of our lives to respond to our own names.

A name is really a whole human identity in word form.

And you can't help but feel so deeply attached.

My name is Laura, and the recent Hurricane Laura was a bizarre experience because every time I turn on the radio, I'd hear something like...

But Laura's impact has grown even more deadly.

...