You might think that your name doesn’t matter. Butresearch suggestssomething different. Apparently, it can affect whatprofessions we choose, where we live, who our partners are, how we invest our money, whether a recruiter wants to hire us, and even if we donate money to charity.If names are so important, then parents must spend more than a couple of minutes on them for their babies, right? This Facebook group is proof that not every parent does so. The community “That name isn’t a tragedeigh, it’s a murghdyrr” has been going strong since the pandemic. But there’s never a shortage of, hmm, let’s say,interesting namesto feature. So check out our newest selection from the page below!More info:FacebookThis post may includeaffiliate links.
You might think that your name doesn’t matter. Butresearch suggestssomething different. Apparently, it can affect whatprofessions we choose, where we live, who our partners are, how we invest our money, whether a recruiter wants to hire us, and even if we donate money to charity.
If names are so important, then parents must spend more than a couple of minutes on them for their babies, right? This Facebook group is proof that not every parent does so. The community “That name isn’t a tragedeigh, it’s a murghdyrr” has been going strong since the pandemic. But there’s never a shortage of, hmm, let’s say,interesting namesto feature. So check out our newest selection from the page below!
More info:Facebook
This post may includeaffiliate links.
It’s funny to laugh at and mock these names, but let’s think for a moment: some kids have to live with these names. Granted, you can always legally change your name; it’s not that big of a deal. However, the scientific evidence behind how different lives are for people with unusual names isquite fascinating.A research paperfrom 1966 analyzed the impact of unusual names on children. The study found that children with less popular names were less popular themselves in grade school.Many subsequent studies investigated the racial aspect of this. And, surprise, surprise, theyfoundthat children with Black-sounding or Asian-sounding names said teachers and students treated them differently.
It’s funny to laugh at and mock these names, but let’s think for a moment: some kids have to live with these names. Granted, you can always legally change your name; it’s not that big of a deal. However, the scientific evidence behind how different lives are for people with unusual names isquite fascinating.
A research paperfrom 1966 analyzed the impact of unusual names on children. The study found that children with less popular names were less popular themselves in grade school.
Many subsequent studies investigated the racial aspect of this. And, surprise, surprise, theyfoundthat children with Black-sounding or Asian-sounding names said teachers and students treated them differently.
There is also research about how people with uncommon names have more difficulty finding a romantic partner.One studyfound that “unattractive” and unpopular names can lead to rejection. That, in turn, leads people with unfortunate names to have lower self-esteem, less education, and be more frequent smokers.
They sent out resumes with “White-sounding names” and “Black-sounding names.” Perhaps there’s little surprise (again) that the Emilys and Gregs got more interest from potential employers than Lakeishas and Jamals.
Swedish researchersfound a similar bias with immigrant names. Those who changed their names from Slavic, Asian, or African names apparently earned 26% more than those who kept their names.Another interesting study comes from Germany.These researchersfound that people with names that sound regal and fancy, like Kaiser, König, or Fürst (emperor, king, and prince, respectively), are more likely to be in managing positions than people with mundane names like Koch, Bauer, or Becker (cook, farmer, baker).
Swedish researchersfound a similar bias with immigrant names. Those who changed their names from Slavic, Asian, or African names apparently earned 26% more than those who kept their names.
Another interesting study comes from Germany.These researchersfound that people with names that sound regal and fancy, like Kaiser, König, or Fürst (emperor, king, and prince, respectively), are more likely to be in managing positions than people with mundane names like Koch, Bauer, or Becker (cook, farmer, baker).
The phenomenon of why we like some names more than others is the’implicit-egotism effect.‘It’s the tendency for people to “gravitate toward people, places, and things that resemble the self.” Somestudieseven suggest that we act more altruistically to people who have similar names to ours!
Psychologist Uri Simonsohn, however, hasdebunkedthis theory. He said that just because there are many doctors named Dan doesn’t mean that the name automatically guarantees that a child will become a doctor. It might simply mean that there are many doctors named Dan because Dan is a very popular and common name.
Those of us withunusual namesknow what it’s like to be an outcast in the playground. I include myself in this group because I can’t count the times people called me ‘Caroline,’ ‘Catherine,’ or ‘Victoria’ (that one’s interesting; it doesn’t really sound like my name at all) – anything but.
When I was learning Arabic (quite unsuccessfully, I might add) during my Bachelor’s years, we had to find out the meaning of our names so that we’d know the equivalent in Arabic. I remember finding something about a Cornelian cherry, but now that I look it up, it says the meaning behind the name is ‘horn.’ Whether that’s better or worse, I’ll leave itup to you to decide.
For future reference, fellow Pandas, the English version of ‘Kornelija’ would be ‘Cornelia.’ It’s that pesky Eastern European soft /j/ that always confuses people. I hated my name when I was young precisely for the reason that it was different; it did, in fact, single me out when socializing with other kids.
And I was angry at my mother: why couldn’t she just give me a nice, short, common name? The only person with a similar name I knew growing up was Cornelius Fudge fromHarry Potter. However, all of us three siblings have four-syllable names, so I just learned to embrace it over time.
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Šarūnė Bar
Aivaras Kaziukonis
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