take soundings

To ask questions in order to learn people's opinions about a certan topic. I'm taking soundings to find out what people want to read about in the student newspaper.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Egil	-	Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Beowulf	BAY-ə-woolf (English)	Anglo-Saxon Mythology
Evandrus	-	Roman Mythology
Bartolomej	-	Slovak, Croatian (Rare)
Ferdinand	['fə:dinənd]
Mel	MEL	English