Wednesday, March 26, 2008

More on names

If your name is Elizabeth or James, I have good news for you today. Other people think you're successful. If your name is Helen or Brian, sorry. Other people want to kick your ass. Or at least doubt your abilities.

Don't get mad at me. The BBC said it. A study was done, the people spoke, and these were the results. Names like Jack and Lucy were considered lucky. Sophie and Ryan were probably attractive people, the respondents agreed. It's rather amazing how much is in a name.

"Past research has shown that such perceptions can become self-fulfilling prophesies, with teachers giving higher marks to children with attractive names and employers being more likely to promote those who sound successful."

This was according to Richard Wiseman, who led the study and probably does not like it when people call him "Dickie."

Turns out none of the names the study illuminated, however, made it onto the 10 Most Popular Baby Names from 2007, courtesy of Babynames.com. Here's what did:

GIRLS
Ava
Abigail
Cailyn
Madeline
Isabella
Emma
Caitlyn
Olivia
Chloe
Brianna

BOYS
Aidan
Braden
Kaden
Ethan
Caleb
Noah
Jaden
Connor
Landon
Jacob

Wow. Aidan, Braden, Kaden, and Jaden. Doesn't anyone like Hayden anymore?

17 comments:

Colleen said...

Hayden is so 2005.

Sarah said...

For sure.
If I had a kid right now, I would name him Bladen. Because it's both popular and dangerous-sounding. No one would mess with Bladen.

ellie said...

the 2007 boys names are appalling. i weep for the future.

more on the name experiment here, http://www.quirkology.com/USA/Experiment_names.shtml
including the full results; note that Sarah is 7th most successful, 12th most lucky and 6th most attractive.

Elizabeth is 1st most successful, second to last lucky and fourth to last in attractiveness...

Sarah said...

So I'm definitely not changing my name to Debra.

Unknown said...

SOMEBODY HAS TO BE RIGHT. ISN'T LUCY "LUCKY" TO BE AGGRAVATING US INSTEAD OF BEING TURNED INTO GROUND MEAT IN NAPERVILLE. NOW FIND A STUDY ON WHAT GOOD CAN COME OUT OF NAPERVILLE. ONLY KIDDING, WE LOVE HER, WARTS AND ALL.

BookCannibal9 said...

So, what you're saying is that only wealthy/upper middle class white people procreated in 2007?

Sarah said...

Either that or everyone read Freakonomics and took it really seriously.

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PginAhmedabad said...

Love this perspective on names! 😄 Naming is such a fascinating topic. Did you know names can shape personalities? Adding my two cents: Ever thought about how initials impact perceptions? 🤔 #FoodForThought-
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