How Transgender People Choose New Names

Choosing a new name is oftentimes a first step for transgender people as they adopt a new identity. Much like Caitlyn Jenner’s = “Call Me Caitlyn” cover, announcing a new name is a symbolic moment that makes others to see them differently—even if they may still look the same. Sometimes, it’s a most difficult decision. From spontaneous decisions to wracking detailed name lists, New York …

An Interactive Chart of American Names

The latest interactive data visualization by researcher Randal Olson offers some intriguing facts about popular American names. After selecting a gender and entering a search item, Olson’s experiment combs through Social Security records to estimate and plot a name’s popularity over the past 115 years. But unlike other name graphs, Olson’s tool also delineates the number of people bearing the name who are both living …