Good Names, Good People
A running, dated feed of short, positive profiles of real people — historic and present-day — who share popular names. New posts appear here on a regular schedule; every name's own detail page always shows the full set of profiles researched for it.
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August 5, 2026
Mary Shelley — Mary
Mary Shelley wrote 'Frankenstein' at eighteen, which is an age most of us spend just trying to figure out rent and which bus to catch, not inventing an entire genre of literature. She'd already lost her mother days…
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August 4, 2026
James Madison — James
James Madison was the kind of student I'd have loved to have in my third-grade classroom — quiet, careful, always doing the reading nobody assigned. He didn't have the booming voice of some of the other Founders, but…
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August 3, 2026
Judy Blume — Judy
I never figured myself for the target audience of a Judy Blume book, but my kids sure were, and my grandkids after them, and that tells you something about staying power that no review could. She wrote 'Are You There…
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August 3, 2026
Judy Garland — Judy
There's genuinely no escaping Judy Garland if you were a kid anywhere near a television during the holidays — 'The Wizard of Oz' is one of those movies that just gets replayed into every generation whether you seek it…
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August 3, 2026
Judy Woodruff — Judy
Steady is not a word people give enough credit to, but after years anchoring 'PBS NewsHour,' Judy Woodruff earned it the hard way — respected specifically for reporting that was in-depth and, above all, steady, night…
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August 2, 2026
Jane Austen — Jane
I feel like people forget Jane Austen basically invented an entire genre that BookTok is still running on two hundred years later — like, 'Pride and Prejudice' is essentially the original enemies-to-lovers plot, and…
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August 2, 2026
Jane Fonda — Jane
A career spanning more than six decades is basically a recipe you keep adjusting your whole life — you don't get it right on the first attempt, and Jane Fonda's version has clearly gone through a lot of revisions,…
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August 2, 2026
Jane Goodall — Jane
I listen to a lot of history and science podcasts during my delivery shifts, and honestly, that's how I first got interested in people's stories at all, so Jane Goodall's is one I know well. Decades — actual decades…
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August 1, 2026
Kathryn Bigelow — Kathryn
Kathryn Bigelow being the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar hits different when you actually sit with how long 'first' took to happen — like, the Oscars had been around for decades before a woman won for…
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August 1, 2026
Kathryn D. Sullivan — Kathryn
Some careers you can build in layers, like a good cake, and some careers only make sense the way Kathryn D. Sullivan's does — geologist, astronaut, first American woman to walk in space, and eventually the first…
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August 1, 2026
Kathryn Hahn — Kathryn
Every good team needs a player who can slot in anywhere and still be the best one on the floor, and from what I can tell, Kathryn Hahn is that player for Hollywood. She's built her whole career on versatility —…
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July 31, 2026
Andrea Bocelli — Andrea
There's something about a voice like Andrea Bocelli's that reaches people no matter what language they speak or where they're from — my mother, who barely speaks English, will stop everything in the room the moment…