Fact or George Saunders story?

For Scott and Katie Keppler of Rye, N.Y., the decision to seek help stemmed from a fundamental disagreement. With their second child on the way, Mrs. Keppler, 40, an accountant, wanted [to name the child] something traditional to match their first son’s name, Liam. Her husband, a software salesman, preferred unique names like Jolt for a boy or Jilly for a girl. “He was harassing me with some really strange names,” Mrs. Keppler says.

To break the deadlock, Mr. Keppler, 40, decided to spend $25 for a service on BabyNames.com that provides six options based on everything from a couple’s mothers’ maiden names to their general taste preferences (traditional, biblical, trendy, unique, ethnic and wild, among others). When their son was born in March, they tapped their favorite name from the list: Max Phillip. The Web site was a truly impartial third-party, Mr. Keppler says.

Fact of course. This is one of several highly entertaining bits from a WSJ today (here’s the link, but I believe it’s subsribers-only) on “unprecedented levels of angst among parents trying to choose names for their children.” I think this couple should have just cut to the chase and named the kid Proprietary Algorithm.

Another surprising detail from the piece: “Sweden and Denmark forbid names that officials think might subject a child to ridicule. Swedish authorities have rejected such names as Veranda, Ikea and Metallica.”