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My column on Arnold
Here is the link to today's column. It was very interesting to me to see how the prominence of the Arnold family in Rhode Island led to the frequent use of Arnold as a given name there. I didn't have space to point out that Arnold may be reviving a bit in the UK at this time.https://omaha.com/life-entertainment/local/evans-arnolds-popularity-dwindles-after-schwarzenegger-turns-to-politics/article_600133dc-2c90-11ee-a3eb-2bf58aea68cb.html

This message was edited 7/30/2023, 10:12 AM

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I definitely feel like with a lot of Americans, the association with Schwarzenegger is too strong to keep it from rising again. Although since it was declining in popularity even before he entered politics, it might have been because of his pop culture presence. It's probably the same reason why Americans no longer name their kids Kermit or Elmo - they've gained very strong pop culture associations. Also, to some people it might be too close to Ronald and Donald, which both have very strong political associations (especially the latter since Trump is way more controversial than Schwarzenegger).I'm thinking in the UK, the Schwarzenegger association isn't as strong as it is in the US, which might explain it getting a bit of a revival there.

This message was edited 7/30/2023, 4:01 PM

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