The Baby Name Wizard

Is naming destiny?  Usually, the answer is no.  Sure, a name can nudge your fate in one direction or another -- like boys named Dennis being more likely to become dentists.  But those effects are tiny in the grand scheme of things, and under each individual's control.  Are there any concrete and immutable effects of names?  Will a girl's life experience actually be different if you name her, say, Isabella instead of Olivia?  Maybe...if you come to Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a one-of-a-kind institution: a "palace" of art, brimming with one woman's extraordinary personal collections and personal vision.  It also has a very personal admission policy.  Anyone named Isabella is admitted free to the museum, forever.  (That might have seemed a small concession in 1903 when the museum first opened to the public; only 96 Isabellas were born in the U.S. that year.  Last year, though, the number was up to 18,874.)  So there's $12 in your pocket for having the right name.  What could be more concrete?

Lots of attractions offer name-based perks as a promotional gimmick.  If your name is George, you can tour George Washington's Mount Vernon estate for free on Washington's birthday.  If baseball is more up your George's alley, head to "Salute to the Babe" night in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where anybody named George (or Herman or Ruth) can cheer on the Fayetteville SwampDogs for free.  Meanwhile over at the Atlanta Motor Speedway's "Joe Momma" night, free admission goes to anyone named Joe who brings his mother.

Those perks, though, are just passing fancies.  The Gardner Museum is legendary for being fixed and unchangeable, and its Isabella offer is no exception.  It's the one and only absolute, reliable name advantage I know of.  Do you know others?  Perhaps a "Thrifty Parent's Guide to Money-Saving Baby Names" is right around the corner!