I happened to read the birth announcements in a local newspaper while I was on vacation a few weeks ago, and to my amazement, there were not one but TWO babies in there who had been given the name "Cash." In one case it was a first name, and in the other it was a middle name. Now, this newspaper covered a pretty upscale area, so perhaps the trend is isolated to an affluent few. Nonetheless, it struck me as the ultimate example of a growing tendency for people to give their kids gentrified-sounding names -- notice all the Brittanys and Madisons and Logans and Tuckers sprouting up everywhere? I don't know, maybe this has always been the case. Maybe "Jennifer" was once considered hoity-toity. But Cash? Damn!

It occurred to me that the name might be inspired by Johnny Cash, but I'd say there's a serious difference between Cash as a surname and Cash as a given name. A little research also uncovered that Slash of Guns N' Roses fame named his baby Cash, but somehow I doubt these parents are drawing on that particular example.

Note to in-laws reading this blog: This week's strip and today's post are not indicative of plans on my part to have a bun in the oven anytime soon.

Update: To those of you who have in fact named your baby "Cash" after the late Man in Black, your baby is totally cool. Okay?