Survey Reveals New Parents Watch Way Too Much Television

Being friends with many people who are in the baby-having stage of life, I know that coming up with an original name that isn't too original -- but that also isn't criminally overused -- is a lot more difficult than it looks. So, in some ways, I feel for the new parents who decide that it's just easier to write the name of one of their favorite television personalities on a birth certificate, instead of something "new." That said: You had the gall to name your kid Finn? And Bristol? Oh, God, hang on while I vomit all over the keyboard.

According to the pregnancy and parenting website BabyCenter, new parents are using television and movie characters for baby names so often, that terms like "The Glee Effect" and "Mad Men Madness" had to be coined in their honor.

On the recently released list of Top-100 baby names for 2010, the names "Finn" and "Quinn" (of Glee fame) are rapidly on the rise. So, too, is "Betty," which BabyCenter attributes to the popularity of Mad Men. Though if any parent is naming their daughter after Betty Draper they must really, really have some issues. (And must not want their child to ever masturbate.)

TV characters aren't the only source of inspiration for new parents. BabyCenter reports that television personalities are on being for used for baby names, too. "Monikers that became household names during the Winter Olympics: Bode, Shaun and Apollo," have seen an uptick, as have "the widely publicized names of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's children: Bristol, Willow and Piper."

For the good of humanity, none of those listed names are in the top-ten for either boys or girls. So -- wait, is that "Jacob" (of Twilight fame) clocking in at the number two most-used name on the boys' list? Oh, no. Here comes that vomit again...

· 'Glee' effect? Top baby names reflect love of TV, movies [MSNBC]