Most Popular Baby Names in Century

The television show TODAY has released a list of the most popular baby names for each decade starting at 1900. Back at the turn of the century wanna know what they were? For boys, the top five were: 1. John 2. William 3. James 4. George 5. Charles. For girls they were: 1. Mary 2. Helen 3. Anna 4. Margaret 5. Ruth. So how have things changed in 100 years? Here's a list of the most popular names in 2006 (the most recent list they had available). For boys the top five were: 1. Jacob 2. Michael 3. Joshua 4. Ethan 5. Matthew. For girls, the top five were: 1. Emily 2. Emma 3. Madison 4. Isabella 5. Ava.

To read the top 10 in each decade, click here.

More Ethnic Cuisine

This week, Dr. Ro wrote an article on how to eat out healthy by eating ethnic cuisine. We came across this article that reveals Food Network stars dishing on their favorite ethnic cuisines. Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto thinks that Japanese cuisine is going to continue to grow in popularity. Specifically he thinks shochu (similar to vodka but half the strength) will gain in popularity. Robin Miller of Quick Fix Meals thinks Spanish tapas-style meals will grow in popularity here in the States. Miller is also on the lookout for more fusion restaurants. She clearly likes lots of flavors on one plate. To read the complete article, click here.

Can Girlfriends Save Your Marriage?

Not for the guys, for the women. We're talking about friends of the wife. The Daily News has a columnist who credits two friends for saving her marriage. When we think of a group of women holding each other up, we often think of the women from Sex and the City. Sure, women have tons of friends when they're single, but married women have tremendous friends too. You can read the article in The Daily News (click here). We're curious if friends have stepped in and helped save your marriage? Was it a group of friends or just one special one? Let us know.

Preparing For a Layoff

You can't ignore that the economy is struggling and if you know you're in an industry that's being hit hard, it wouldn't be a bad idea to prepare for a layoff. According to this MSNBC article, 63,000 jobs were cut in February. Is yours next? The article offers 10 steps to help prepare for a layoff. FIrst is to establish an emergency fund. Second, live within your means. Third, use credit cards with caution. Fourth, talk about money with your spouse. Fifth, tackle your high-interest debt. The article offers more details for each of these, plus the final five tips.

Have you been laid off or are you preparing to be laid off? How is that affecting your relationship?

Men Doing More Chores

The Council on Contemporary Families found in one study that men's contribution to housework has doubled over the past four decades; another study found men tripled the time spent on childcare over that span. Don't get too excited men, women still do more household work and childcare responsibilities than men, but men are definitely doing more than scratching themselves on the couch. Joshua Coleman, the author of "The Lazy Husband: How to Get Men to Do More Parenting and Housework," believes that equitable sharing of housework can lead to a happier marriage and more frequent sex. Makes sense. If the wife spent all day at work and then had to tackle all of the housework, how likely do you think it is that she'll want sex? Click here to read the complete article.

How's the housework shared in your marriage? Talk about it on our message board.

Power In Marriage Unrelated to Economics

A study conducted by Ariel University Center of Samaria says that a spouse who is more satisfied with the relationship is more likely to give in to the demands of his or her partner, regardless of their respective economic or educational backgrounds. The study looked at the decision-making process of 192 Israeli couples from varied religious and socioeconomic backgrounds who were planning their annual vacations. This study debunks the thought that the person who makes the money in the relationship, which most of the time could also correlate to the person with higher education is the one who holds the power in marriage. You can read the full article at the The Jerusalem Post, click here.

Couple Needs $225,000 for Retirement Healthcare

Fidelity Investments says that couples retiring today would need $225,000 to cover medical costs. That figure is up 4.7% from the $215,000 estimate for 2007 by Fidelity. A separate study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College estimates that couples would need $206,000 to cover medical costs. I guess it's safe to say that you'll need a little over $100k a piece to cover just your medical costs. To really put things into perspective, in 2002 Fidelity projected that a couple would need $160,000. Whoa. To read the complete article, click here.

Marital Sex Overrated?

A new book by Susan Yager-Berkowitz and her husband Bob Berkowitz suggests that marital sex is overrated. The book is entitled, "He's Just Not Up For It Anymore: Why Men Stop Having Sex and What You Can Do About It" (William Morrow, 2008). They surveyed 4,000 men and women in relationships ranging in age from 18 to 93. You can read an article on OC Register about what Susan has to say. To make it short, she basically says sex slows down--and that's ok. Sure there's ebbs and flows in marital sex (just listen to the podcasts with Dr. Trina Read), but that doesn't mean if you're not happy with your sex life you should accept it. If you're looking for advice, go to our sex channel. Now.

Survey: Secrets of Happy Families

Our own Dr. Scott Halztman has put together a survey. He's trying to find out what makes a family happy. Dr. Haltzman will use the results of this survey for his upcoming book, "The Secrets of Happy Families." The survey takes only about five minutes and you can be entered to win his previous two books, "The Secrets of Happily Married Women," and "The Secrets of Happily Married Men." Please help out our expert who's here to help you. Click here to take the survey.

Interview with "Here Come the Newlyweds" host and more

We've added our podcast to Podcast Alley. Click here to access our Podcast Alley feed! This would also be a great time to mention that we interviewed the host of the new reality show "Here Come the Newlyweds," Pat Bullard. If you're not already a listener, now's is a great to to get started. If you'd prefer to listen through iTunes, go to our podcast page, click here and follow the instructions.