mysql dates select help

i am trying to run a query that grabs all names from a certain date to a certain date. in my table i have dates stored as:

$start=2002-09-23
$end=2002-09-30

here is what i want to achieve:

"select * from names where datesNames is between $start and $end"

how can i write such a query to run on mysql.

thanks for all your inputs

you've pretty much got it -

select * from names where datesNames >= '1999-12-20' and datesNames <= '2000-12-23';

and

select * from names where datesNames between '1999-12-20' and '2000-12-23';

does the same thing

this is great.

select * from names where datesNames >= '1999-12-20' and datesNames <= '2000-12-23';

and

select * from names where datesNames between '1999-12-20' and '2000-12-23';

but what if in my database date is stored as this: "2002-09-20 15:28:35"

how can i check my dates '1999-12-20' with this : "2002-09-20 15:28:35" so that it ignores the time, but only checks the date.

thanks

e.g.

select * from names where left(datesNames, 10) >= '1999-12-20' and left(datesNames, 10) <= '2000-12-23';