Naming a new baby is a challenging process. It’s hard to please everybody with a name.

Dad wants a name with alliteration in it, something that would sound good on a sports report--Sammy Sousa or Johnny Justice.

Mom selects a fashionable name and insists on no nicknames, something like Catherine or Benjamin or Cynthia.

Grandpa wants to use a hallowed family name from the past, like Reuben or Horatio or Alonzo.

It’s a miracle of diplomacy that a name is ever chosen.

Once the name is selected, it takes on a certain fascination. One day a hospital nurse retrieved an interesting bit of doodling from one of the labor and delivery rooms. Evidently, an expectant father had had some time on his hands as he awaited the blessed arrival. Here is what he wrote:

“John Paul Jones, J. Paul Jones, J…