The Influence of Names: Is Your Name Unintentionally Holding You Back?

Whilst researching for my dissertation I became fixated with youth unemployment, it is a problem that affects my friends and myself. 'What will we do after university?' is a frequent question that often has a resolute, parrot-fashion or panicked response. 

Tangentially I became interested in capitalism as a concept. Why am I jumping through all these hoops of education to gain pieces of paper that resemble lumps of shiny metal that someone in the pre-historic age decided were important (five banks are still calling the shots on this one anyway)? What if the whole world thought leaves were the most valuable good? I would be pretty rich at the moment if they were (obviously it is scarcity that creates value in a capitalist world so this be of little consequence – Brazil would simply become richer still). The debate about capitalism has become more visible in recent years after the catalyst of the boom and Thomas Piketty’s recent publication has caused this debate to resurface again.

This then led me on to the influence that names can have upon our economic performance and this (you can breath a sigh of relief) forms the subject for this article. Does it make a difference? And if so, why? I will cover the other subjects of youth unemployment and capitalism in later articles so watch out for those.

What is striking in the conversation concerning normlative determinism is Ian Salisbury’s reference to research on the coincidence of names in Oxbridge undergraduates, ‘advantageous names’ outnumber ‘made-up names’ by 80-1. So if you are an Elizabeth and applying to Oxbridge your fingers should be crossed with a justifiable hope; but if you are a Shane, Jade or Chelsea then you had better look elsewhere. 

Is this true? Well the research is conclusive and the impact that names have is without doubt; so, you had better choose wisely future parents for your babies' future is partly tied to their name. It could affect schools, jobs, and relationships. Let us look at this in more depth.

What does your name say about you?

Surely it is about the person? The qualities they show? The way they relate? Of course it is but the power a name holds is without question. How many books, religious articles, and scientific publications play with the concept of your name? Knowing your true name, name changing, and the effects that names have are all discussed.

However, is it the name or the fact that classes are likely to choose a certain set of names? It is not often that you find a Percival among the lower classes or a Chardonnay among the upper classes. They are certain social stigmas attached to them which neither class finds tasteful. Therefore it is not the name but the class. 

What would be interesting would be to assess the effect a divergent name has upon different classes. Yet, a human life is not some plaything to be meddled with and if I was the test subject I would find the whole affair rather disturbing. The luck is out on this one.

Or is it? David Figlio does conduct a test that draws out a conclusion on the effect of different names by analysing birth certificates and whether the baby’s mother will be a high school dropout (there is nothing wrong with that but it does have interesting implications). He finds that a name that a teacher perceives to have been given by ‘uneducated parents’ affects how the teacher reacts to the student – as though the parents have consigned the child to a certain fate. Pelham, and Mirenberg and Jones, substantiate these findings and argue that an individuals’ name strongly affects their residential location choices, career choices and spousal selections.

David Key’s comment on the concurrence of ‘a’ on the end of female names and thus her social economic class shows a remarkable similarity. Compare Sophie to Sophia, Susan to Susanna, Helen to Helena, Dianne to Dianna, and Frances to Francesca. The former is often of lower class to the later.

What about the other way around? George Osbourne’s original name was Gideon but he appeared anxious to change it to a more generic name so as to avoid issues at the poll. Clever chap!

Superfans also pose an interesting question. Just because you might have a devotion to a certain team does not mean that your children should be related to them - the consequences are more far-reaching then you can imagine. The story of the Manchester United obsessed mother today compounds this absurdity. What will the cats think?

Though you may deny it our names do have an influence on a lot of worldly factors. Of course there will be anomalies (it could even be you!) but evidently we all have a duty to take care in deciding the names of our offspring. You could contend that if you do not value economic wealth then this argument is rather flawed; your name should represent your group, your class or your heritage. Yet, to talk in terms of class, to participate in the capitalist world (though I appreciate it is rather difficult to do anything else), and to have a job, entails a stake in the significance of names.

I guess in however many years my offspring had better be name appropriately or someone will be redirecting me to this post (it might even be them!).

Thoughts? Has your name held you back? Does this make sense? Do you think this is right?