"The name of a man is a numbing blow from which he never recovers." - Marshall McLuhan

"Once you label me you negate me." - Soren Kierkegaard

"My name is my name!" - Marlo Stanfield

This MiniLeague will consider all aspects of persons’ names: first, last, and middle. It is limited to the names of individuals -- not place names, team names, or brand names, although these all may be considered when they are linked directly to people's names.

A good number of the questions in the MiniLeague will deal directly with name-specific topics -- name origins, popularity, demographics, etc. But many of the questions will range widely across all fields of knowledge where individual names might be relevant. Given my own particular interests, it is likely that history, the arts, and popular culture will be overrepresented at the expense of useful things like math and science.

I see this quiz as a classic Type B MiniLeague, and I’d give it a PG rating on the ModKos scale. (I’m actually aiming for G, but I think MiniLeague authors have a tendency to underestimate the difficulty of their questions).

Sample questions (answers in white text below):

1. Five popes, the President of the Second Bank of the United States, and the star of the 2008 film “Bangkok Dangerous” all share(d) what first name?
NICHOLAS

2. In 2006, Emma, Clara, and Manon were among the most popular female baby names in what country?
FRANCE

3. What boy's name, extremely uncommon in America before 1991, rose to become the 181st ranked baby name in 1993, before falling out of the top 1000 altogether—seemingly for good—in 1996. (Hint: it’s not "Wilt Chamberneezy").
SHAQUILLE