[updated 3-5-07]

That's right, it's the return of the Name Game, your chance to choose the name of Campbell's first born child.  The difference?  This time it's for real!  That's right, wife Tamara is now the vessel for the Scion of the Empire.  Right now, the child is code named Tookie, after former Tulane great Tookie Spahn.

History will tell that the first Name Game, begun in 1990, yielded names such as Nobu, Tibia, Schulylkill, Muleskinner, Thongsak and Placenta Maria.  The Game unofficially terminated in the late 1990's when the publication CampbellMania, the official newsletter of the Empire, went on hiatus.

Back again, now for real, we are accepting suggestions from all comers.  To submit, please send an email to Campbell at the link below.  If you are interested to know the historical frequency of a suggested name, you can visit the name database for the Social Security Administration.

January 12, 2006 - The name submissions have tailed off.  Perhaps you are concerned that it is a fait accompli.  Not so.  In our world of indecision, there is no final answer determined before the very last minute.  And at that point, second guessing and chooser's remorse is often the case.  So let's get on it, folks.  Keep thinking and keep submitting.

November 2, 2006 - Tookie is a boy child.  Please tailor your responses accordingly.

March 5, 2007 - We are in the "bell lap" and need to make a decision NOW.  We are falling back into names that actually appear in books and the like.  Clearly we need help.

March 21, 2007 - We are definitely on the clock.  The mother in law is in town and we are back in our house (although living primitively), so the baby is allowed to come now.  Tamara is praying he does not come today, for if he arrives on the Vernal Equinox, I have sworn to the gods of weather and seasons that I will name him Vern in celebration of spring. 

Email us with suggestions!  We will publish some of your suggestions.  Others, however, will be rejected with ignominious disgust.

Don't forget to check out the "Separated at Birth?" page with Tookie's curious week 15 ultrasounds and a scandalous week 19 shot.  Week 9 is relatively non-controversial.  The most recent addition of week 30 will cause some hand wringing.  Unfortunately, our doctor has declared that we do not require any more ultrasounds.  Obviously this is good news from a medical perspective, but it serves to shut down the Separated at Birth game. [updated 1-12-07]

• Vern (if he's born on the Vernal Equinox)
• Theophile
• Uncas
• Zeno
• Egon
• Glottalstop
• Xerxes
• Schnecken
• Mediobogdum
• Achashverosh
• Iago

Tookie at 30 weeks:

The ultrasounds are considerably less interesting from a visual perspective as Tookie gets bigger and occupies all of the space in the womb.  He is 4 lbs right now which is apparently fairly heavy for this stage.  Suddenly Lamaze breathing and concentration techniques seem more useful.

Tookie at 19ish weeks:

Bandito waving

 

Downward facing armadillo pose

 

Profile, looking up

 

Getting ready to kick

 

Indiscrete confirmation of a boy

 

Tookie at 15ish weeks:

Tookie at 12ish weeks:

Tookie at 9ish weeks: