Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Rules for Naming--A gift you can give your children

Slims · 12-20-2010, 04:53 PM

There was a great chapter in Freakonomics on naming.

Stephen Levitt makes the argument that names are both somewhat predictive of a childs future potential as well as partly causal.

For instance:

A child who is named Lemon Jello is probably not going to come from wealthy, educated parents nor will he likely attend an ivy league university. That is the predictive aspect as naming conventions tend to very between various classes/groups of people.

He also makes the case that Lemon Jello may have a bit more trouble finding success in life simply because of his name, regardless of his background, education, etc.

For an example he provides a company representative reviewing hundreds of resumes for a few job opportunities. That employee will only spend a few seconds examining each resume, on average. Which means that the employees personal opinions, prejudices, etc. will play a role (conscious or otherwise) in the selection process and will likely set down Lemon Jello's resume after reading the name. Right or wrong that reviewer has likely made a gut-opinion about Lemon Jello's upbringing and odds of adapting to the corporate culture based solely on a name....And he is probably right.

Parents who name their children off the wall stupid-shit are stamping them with a giant 'I come from a shitty home' label that will follow them for the rest of their lives.

Likewise, names that are currently considered 'sophisticated,' regardless of any truth behind the opinion, are more likely to get a positive response from people.

The big killers:

Nicknames as given names: Greg instead of Gregory
Mispellings and/or hyphens: G-reg, Dennyz, etc.
Brand names, etc: Porsche, LemonJello, etc.
Made up names: Gregoranicanmeus
Dumb Capitalizations: GreGoRy
Etc.

I can't imagine handicapping my child with a demonstrably hurtful name and I think poorly of parents who do....If you can't be bothered to research naming conventions before naming your child then you are not likely to make good judgment calls regarding other aspects of their future.

I feel so strongly about this because I have met Lemonjello as well as his brother Orangejello.

12-20-2010, 04:53 PM	#3 (permalink)
Slims Eccentric insomniac Location: North Carolina	There was a great chapter in Freakonomics on naming. Stephen Levitt makes the argument that names are both somewhat predictive of a childs future potential as well as partly causal. For instance: A child who is named Lemon Jello is probably not going to come from wealthy, educated parents nor will he likely attend an ivy league university. That is the predictive aspect as naming conventions tend to very between various classes/groups of people. He also makes the case that Lemon Jello may have a bit more trouble finding success in life simply because of his name, regardless of his background, education, etc. For an example he provides a company representative reviewing hundreds of resumes for a few job opportunities. That employee will only spend a few seconds examining each resume, on average. Which means that the employees personal opinions, prejudices, etc. will play a role (conscious or otherwise) in the selection process and will likely set down Lemon Jello's resume after reading the name. Right or wrong that reviewer has likely made a gut-opinion about Lemon Jello's upbringing and odds of adapting to the corporate culture based solely on a name....And he is probably right. Parents who name their children off the wall stupid-shit are stamping them with a giant 'I come from a shitty home' label that will follow them for the rest of their lives. Likewise, names that are currently considered 'sophisticated,' regardless of any truth behind the opinion, are more likely to get a positive response from people. The big killers: Nicknames as given names: Greg instead of Gregory Mispellings and/or hyphens: G-reg, Dennyz, etc. Brand names, etc: Porsche, LemonJello, etc. Made up names: Gregoranicanmeus Dumb Capitalizations: GreGoRy Etc. I can't imagine handicapping my child with a demonstrably hurtful name and I think poorly of parents who do....If you can't be bothered to research naming conventions before naming your child then you are not likely to make good judgment calls regarding other aspects of their future. I feel so strongly about this because I have met Lemonjello as well as his brother Orangejello. __________________ "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill "All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence Last edited by Slims; 12-20-2010 at 04:55 PM..