tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/baby-names-2117/articlesBaby names – The Conversation2023-08-05T05:52:51Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1900912023-08-05T05:52:51Z2023-08-05T05:52:51ZWhy naming storms is a risky business<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486063/original/file-20220922-15266-3o6hzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Storm Freya pounds the lighthouse at Porthcawl Point, in Brigend, Wales, on March 3 and 4, 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/storm-freya-porthcawl-pounding-lighthouse-1538420864">Bryn J Morgan | Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since 2015, the UK’s Met Office has used forenames to label storms, as a strategy for <a href="https://theconversation.com/storm-doris-giving-dangerous-weather-a-human-name-makes-us-more-wary-says-research-66859">improving people’s awareness</a> of severe weather warnings. The <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-storm-centre/index">list of names</a> for the 2023 storm season was compiled in conjunction with the Irish forecaster Met Éireann and KNMI, the Dutch national weather forecasting service. </p>
<p>The list includes forenames suggested by the British public – Daisy, Glen, Khalid, Owain – as well as the winner of a public vote on Twitter, Betty. KNMI has honoured famous Dutch scientists with its selections: Antoni, Hendrika, Johanna, Loes, Tobias and Wouter. And Met Éireann has plumped for Cillian, Fleur, Íde, Ruadhán and Nelly. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A gold ice-cream cone sculpture and christmas trees lie on the ground in a city centre street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486066/original/file-20220922-33324-a4hdau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486066/original/file-20220922-33324-a4hdau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486066/original/file-20220922-33324-a4hdau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486066/original/file-20220922-33324-a4hdau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486066/original/file-20220922-33324-a4hdau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486066/original/file-20220922-33324-a4hdau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486066/original/file-20220922-33324-a4hdau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Storm Bella hit the Netherlands on December 27, 2021 with winds reaching 110 km per hour that caused extensive damage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/29-december-2020-leiden-netherlands-storm-1898742910">Zivko Trikic | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Getting the public involved in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-2020-atlantic-hurricane-season-is-so-intense-it-just-ran-out-of-storm-names-146506">naming storms</a> injects an element of fun into the otherwise serious business of heightening awareness of perilous weather. When we use people’s names for non-human things, we anthropomorphise (or humanise) them, and so they <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0163853X.2016.1223517?scroll=top&needAccess=true">gain more of our interest</a> and attention. But naming storms also has its pitfalls.</p>
<h2>How storm names reflect cultural tendencies</h2>
<p>With the exception of Cillian, which was the ninth most popular given to <a href="https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-ibn/irishbabiesnames2021/irishbabiesnamestables/">baby boys in Ireland</a> in 2021, the 2022-23 storm names tend not to mirror today’s popular baby names. In terms of popularity, Wouter and Hendrika are the next most highly ranked baby names on the list (being respectively, the 37th most popular name given to baby boys and the 42nd for baby girls <a href="https://www.svbkindernamen.nl/nl/kindernamen/index.htm">in the Netherlands</a>). </p>
<p>In other words, <a href="https://theconversation.com/baby-names-why-we-all-choose-the-same-ones-185546">compared to Noah, Ella or Emma</a>, they’re not overly trendy.</p>
<p>They do however reflect the cultures, religions, ethnicities and linguistic diversity of the countries involved. Íde is an old Irish saint’s name, Owain is Welsh, Khalid is Arabic, Priya is Sanskrit and Loes is the Dutch form of Louise. </p>
<p>Also, the storm names replicate the cultural tendency in Europe and elsewhere for <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-017-0805-4">forenames to be gendered</a>. Most of the names on the list are what naming specialists identify as typically female or typically male forenames. The list alternates on this basis. </p>
<p>Almost all of the typically female names in the list end in a <a href="https://download.e-bookshelf.de/download/0000/4905/07/L-G-0000490507-0002318623.pdf">(phonetic) vowel</a> (Hendrika, Ide, Johanna, Priya) or they are a pet form (Betty, Daisy, Nelly). These elements are considered to be <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110589122/html?lang=de">linguistic femininity markers</a>, that is, linguistic features that occur predominantly in female names and only rarely in male names. </p>
<p>Likewise, most of the male names in the list show the typical linguistic masculinity markers found within many Germanic languages, including in English and Dutch. All apart from Antoni end in a consonant. </p>
<p>Masculine names can hold <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-017-0805-4">greater prestige</a> and there is debate about whether storms with feminine names are taken <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212094715300517#!">less seriously</a>. Given this, the inclusion in this year’s list of three gender-neutral names (Glen, Sam and Val) is to be welcomed. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A van drives through a flooded street in a countryside setting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486069/original/file-20220922-32960-bvqtp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486069/original/file-20220922-32960-bvqtp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486069/original/file-20220922-32960-bvqtp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486069/original/file-20220922-32960-bvqtp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486069/original/file-20220922-32960-bvqtp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486069/original/file-20220922-32960-bvqtp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486069/original/file-20220922-32960-bvqtp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When storm Frank made landfall on December 29, 2015, it led to extensive flooding across the UK.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/inverurie-aberdeenshire-scotland-4-january-this-361518596">JASPERIMAGE | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Naming things can adversely impact eponymous people</h2>
<p>Using people’s forenames to identify things such as storms, that are not people, can also have unintended consequences. In 2015, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-weather-isis-idUKKBN0N81QS20150417">Isis was removed</a> from the UN’s storm name list and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/women-named-isis-face-backlash-over-islamic-state-acronym-1.2799385">people with the name Isis</a> have faced stigma, because it is now associated with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-isis-and-where-did-it-come-from-27944">terrorist group</a>. Similary, the devasting hurricane Katrina of 2005 led to this forename dropping down the rankings of <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/">popular baby names</a> in the US, from position 281 to 942 in 2012.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/todays-disease-names-are-less-catchy-but-also-less-likely-to-cause-stigma-131465">Naming problems</a> have been a constant thread throughout the pandemic too. Mere geographical names for new variants have led to instances of <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-variants-have-new-names-we-can-finally-stop-stigmatising-countries-159652">racism and xenophobia</a> directed at people from the places invoked. And in 2020 a boy called Corona was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-hanks-australia-idUSKCN2252J7">reportedly bullied</a> because he bore the informal name for the virus. </p>
<p>Including names like Khalid or Kamil on lists of storm names does give recognition to how names <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038038515582157">signal cultural diversity</a>. However, it can adversely impact people too. If a minority ethnic forename is used to name a storm that turns out to wreak extensive damage, injuries or deaths, people with that forename may subsequently experience even more <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038038520966947">disadvantage</a> than they already face due to their name being considered “non-white” or “<a href="https://theconversation.com/discrimination-swedish-study-shows-job-applicants-with-foreign-names-receive-far-fewer-responses-182389">foreign</a>”. </p>
<p>Historic <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/japp.12485">building and street names</a> can lead to similar predicaments. While the public figures honoured might have been esteemed at the time of christening, with today’s knowledge they are often no longer considered worthy candidates. </p>
<p>Should the buildings, public squares and roads bearing the names of slave traders in <a href="https://hackney.gov.uk/naming-review">London</a> and <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/streetnames-pdf/">Liverpool</a>, for example, be renamed? Or should they keep their names and serve as a cautionary reminder of the past? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People silhouetted against stormy seascape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486072/original/file-20220922-33275-tbz6j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486072/original/file-20220922-33275-tbz6j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486072/original/file-20220922-33275-tbz6j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486072/original/file-20220922-33275-tbz6j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486072/original/file-20220922-33275-tbz6j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486072/original/file-20220922-33275-tbz6j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486072/original/file-20220922-33275-tbz6j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People battle storm Ciara on the North Sea coast in Zandvoort, Netherlands, on February 9, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blurred-people-walking-against-hard-wind-1640211463">Wut_Moppie | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In <a href="https://www.staedtetag.de/files/dst/docs/Publikationen/Weitere-Publikationen/2021/Handreichung-Strassennamen-im-Fokus-einer-veraenderten-Wertediskussion.pdf">Germany</a>, historical commissions have spent decades tracking down the many streets named by the Nazis after their idols and most ardent members. These are then <a href="https://www.muenster.de/stadt/strassennamen/umgang-mit-strittigen-strassennamen.html">renamed</a>, in some instances, with the names of <a href="https://www.staedtetag.de/files/dst/docs/Publikationen/Weitere-Publikationen/2021/Handreichung-Strassennamen-im-Fokus-einer-veraenderten-Wertediskussion.pdf">victims of the Nazi regime</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, Berlin is in the process of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ukrainian-heroes-street-the-ideology-behind-street-name-changes-179713">substituting</a> the colonialists named on street signs in its north-western Afrikanisches Viertel (African quarter) with the names of African liberation fighters. </p>
<p>The naming of storms, streets or buildings is a complicated and risky business precisely because names are not just benign words. They are powerful cultural workhorses, brimful of meanings that say so much about who we are and how we experience the world. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 20,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nothing to disclose.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Pilcher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Naming storms, streets or buildings is complicated because names are not just benign words. They are powerful cultural workhorses.Jane Pilcher, Associate Professor of Sociology, Nottingham Trent UniversityAnna-Maria Balbach, Research Project Leader, German Linguistics, University of MünsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1921222022-10-10T14:34:19Z2022-10-10T14:34:19ZHow parents take more risks when naming girls than boys<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488806/original/file-20221007-7785-6iydtu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If there are a few girls named Noah, we're not seeing any boys called Olivia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-girl-playing-soap-bubbles-machine-409239673">bernatets photo | shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2021">latest top baby names</a> in England and Wales have been published, and as usual, the list of names is divided into those given to girls (at the top are Olivia, Amelia and Isla) and those given to boys (Noah, Oliver and George are the top three here). </p>
<p>Noah has moved up three places since 2020, to replace Oliver as the most popular name for baby boys. In the boy’s top ten, however, there has not been much further movement, with only one new entry (Henry, ranked tenth and up one place compared to 2020, and replacing Jack). </p>
<p>In the girls’ top ten, by contrast, there are three new entries: Freya at number six (up six places from 2020), Florence at number eight (also up six places from 2020), and Willow at number ten (two places higher than 2020). Meanwhile, Mia slips down four places from 2020 to ninth position in 2021, and Rosie, Isabella and Sophia drop out of the top ten completely. </p>
<p>These are changes that suggest that <a href="https://theconversation.com/baby-names-why-we-all-choose-the-same-ones-185546">names</a> for boys have more <a href="https://theconversation.com/by-george-easy-names-give-off-more-positive-associations-16331">stability</a> than names for girls and that parents are less willing to make risky choices when it comes to names for boys. <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/511801">Research shows</a> that parents remain more bound by tradition in naming their sons because boys’ names retain more cultural value than girls’ do.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A couple frame a newborn baby with their hands and faces" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When a gender-neutral name is seen as too often used for girls, boys’ parents stop using it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-happy-parents-holding-their-newborn-1501547591">Ternavskaia Olga Alibec | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cautious naming practices</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20120406040052/http:/www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/baby-names--england-and-wales/1996/index.html">1996</a> (when baby names data first began to be published in the UK), there were 289 two-part names given to girls (Sarah-Jane being the most popular, ranked at 502). Only 35 double-barrelled names were given to boys, with Jean-Luc the most popular, ranked at 654. </p>
<p>Jump forward to <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2021">2021</a> and there are now 1,173 two-part names for girls (Ivy-Rose being the most popular, ranked at 247). Boys’ double names have also gained ground, but not nearly as much: they numbered 434 in 2021, and the highest ranking two-part boys’ name – Tommy-Lee – sat only at number 457. Double-barrelled forenames seem to be an option that parents of boys are less likely to choose.</p>
<p>There is also a notable difference in the size of the baby-name pool for boys and for girls. In 1996, the data listed 2,836 names given to boys that year, compared to 3,795 names given to girls. By 2021, those numbers had risen to 4,789 and 5,581, respectively. The greater variety of names for baby girls is another sign that parents are less cautious when naming their daughters than they are with their sons. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/511801">Research</a> suggests that forenames for boys are seen as signalling ethnic credentials or heritage more often than those for girls do. This finding helps explain why the boys’ name Muhammad <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2021">ranks fifth</a> in the top names given to boys in England and Wales in 2021. </p>
<p>More generally, and despite some progress toward gender equality in many societies, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/hegemonic-masculinity">it has been argued</a> that boys and men are still seen to hold more prestige and value than girls and women. Simply put, at a cultural level, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-017-0805-4">names for baby girls matter less</a> than names for baby boys, and so parents of baby girls are less bound by convention or tradition.</p>
<h2>Gender-neutral names</h2>
<p>Interestingly, of the top three most popular baby names this year, Noah is the only one to be given to both boys and girls. Although, only 12 girls were given that name in 2021 compared to 4,525 boys. But there were no boys at all who were named Olivia, Amelia or Isla. Nor were there any girls named Oliver or George.</p>
<p>Gender-neutral names, like Jamie and Taylor, are so called because they can be given to girls and to boys – they do not clearly indicate a person’s birth-given sex category. But in the UK,
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/0027773813Z.00000000060">as in many countries</a>, it is still <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2021">the cultural norm</a> to give babies a sex-specific forename. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3003767.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A0d03de24b87eb109e63b488ef110ca6b&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6562_basic_search%2Fcontrol&origin=search-results&acceptTC=1">Research</a> has shown that 97% of forenames regarded as appropriate for girls are only given to children whose sex category is female. Likewise, 97% of forenames viewed as appropriate for boys are only given to children whose sex category is male. </p>
<p>In the 2021 list of baby names, River is a strong candidate for the most popular gender-neutral name. Ranked at position 131 in the boys’ list and given to 442 boys, it was also given to 423 girls, and ranked higher, in terms of popularity, at position 119.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/nam.1993.41.4.228?src=recsys">Research</a> also shows that when otherwise gender-neutral names begin to be given “too often” to girls – as happened <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304422X20302448?casa_token=-jYMY-TjJ_IAAAAA:hG6SXzGl8uhA9mwuyPTQiyW8XS3r_HEfpugwKzDQooOYh5pI2aLfTG5r2HzLF0l9JNwkj0q5PtE#fig0002">with Taylor</a> in the 1990s in the US – parents of boys begin to abandon those names. This is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304422X20302448?casa_token=-jYMY-TjJ_IAAAAA:hG6SXzGl8uhA9mwuyPTQiyW8XS3r_HEfpugwKzDQooOYh5pI2aLfTG5r2HzLF0l9JNwkj0q5PtE#cit_18">argued</a> to be especially true for names like Ashley that have a long-e suffix. Here, the changed gender connotations of the long-e sound over time have made such names seem more suitable for girls. In other words, perceived over-use of gender-neutral names for girls can “contaminate” that name as a good option for boys: they lose their perceived neutrality and become thought of more as girls’ names. </p>
<p>Again, this stems from the lower cultural value ascribed to girls’ names as compared to boys’ names. And it represents a barrier to any significant rise in the popularity of gender-neutral names in the near future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Pilcher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Parents are more traditional and risk-averse in naming their sons because boys’ names continue to retain more cultural value than girls’ do.Jane Pilcher, Associate Professor of Sociology, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855462022-07-18T12:17:45Z2022-07-18T12:17:45ZBaby names: why we all choose the same ones<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473952/original/file-20220713-9624-52pez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young parents often look for the name that will be as unique as their kid.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/0hiUWSi7jvs">Minnie Zhou | Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might be one of those people who, since their own childhood, has curated lists of potential names for any children you might have. Or your interest in names might only have emerged because you’re actually expecting your first child. Suddenly, you’ve started noticing first names everywhere. </p>
<p>Your thoughts might travel back to older relatives. In the UK, names like <a href="http://www.nameplayground.com/Evelyn">Evelyn</a> or <a href="http://www.nameplayground.com/Arthur">Arthur</a> used to feel dated, but somehow they now feel fresh and beautiful. Parents-to-be might not tell their friends about their favourites: this is their special name, and they don’t want to risk someone stealing it.</p>
<p>However, it is often the case that when little Arthur or Evelyn goes to nursery or school, their name doesn’t seem so original anymore. It turns out, there are in fact three Evelyns in the class, and several Arthurs in the playground, despite the fact that the children’s parents might have never met any Evelyns or Arthurs before having their own. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/jay-z-beyonce-baby-blue-ivy-and-the-art-of-naming-4885">Jay-Z, Beyoncé, baby Blue Ivy and the art of naming</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/before-you-name-your-baby-consider-this-84351">Before you name your baby, consider this…</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-black-names-from-perlie-to-latasha-130102">A brief history of black names, from Perlie to Latasha</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>American sociologist Stanley Lieberson shows in his 2000 book, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300173871/a-matter-of-taste/">A Matter of Taste: How Names, Fashions, and Culture Change</a> that parents-to-be like the same names at the same time for a variety of reasons – from generational preferences to societal changes and cultural influences – but mostly because since the late 19th century, it has become a matter not of custom, but of taste. As such, it follows the same gradual shifts and reversals as other expressions of fashion. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A parent with two young children in a field of long grass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473954/original/file-20220713-9360-ckyg4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473954/original/file-20220713-9360-ckyg4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473954/original/file-20220713-9360-ckyg4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473954/original/file-20220713-9360-ckyg4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473954/original/file-20220713-9360-ckyg4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473954/original/file-20220713-9360-ckyg4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473954/original/file-20220713-9360-ckyg4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Societal shifts and cultural influences both shape naming trends.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/0n4AhLhuOZk">Joice Kelly | Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How names can feel overused</h2>
<p>When you think about the names that you find attractive, it is interesting to consider whether any of them are common in your own generation, or in your parents’ generation. The answer to both these questions is probably “no”. Names that we associate with our peers or our teachers often feel too “used” to seem attractive and fitting for a chubby infant.</p>
<p>By contrast, names from our grandparents’ or even great-grandparents’ generation appear more attractive. <a href="https://www.nordicsocioonomastics.org/naming-trends-in-denmark/">Research in Denmark</a> shows that two-syllable girls names ending in “a” (like Alma or Clara) have gained in popularity since 2000 – a century after the last time such names peaked. </p>
<p>That 100-year pattern makes sense because you don’t have nearly as many experiences with names from these generations. And though, as young parents, we think that we have hit the jackpot by finding a name that is just as unique as our precious newborn, our tastes are often actually aligned with the tastes of others <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/591659">from our generation</a>. Just like there are generational preferences in furniture, music and hairstyles, so it is with baby names.</p>
<p>Of course, not all popular first names can be traced back to older generations. Sometimes, parents are inspired by popular culture. In Denmark, Liam had never been a common name <a href="https://navn.ku.dk/personnavne/20drengenavne/liam/">until the 2000s</a> when it started topping lists of boys names. This must at least in part have to do with the Danish rapper and TV host LOC, AKA Liam O'Connor’s rise to fame. In 1991, meanwhile, <a href="https://www.thelocal.fr/20170119/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin-how-a-hollywood-naming-craze-swept-france/">14,087 Kévins</a> were reportedly born in France due largely to two film releases the year before: Kevin Costner’s Dances With Wolves, and Home Alone, whose main protagonist is called Kevin McCallister.</p>
<p>Broader cultural changes also impact name popularity. After the second world war, Denmark was no longer cut off from cultural influences from the US and the UK. As a result, English names such as John and Tommy <a href="https://www.norna.org/content/benny-brian-johnny-og-dennis-om-de-engelske-drengenavnes-historie-i-danmark-som">became extremely fashionable</a>. The civil rights movement in the US, meanwhile, saw popularity in African-American naming patterns shift from biblical options like Elijah and Isaac to names such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-black-names-from-perlie-to-latasha-130102">Kareem</a> after basketballer and activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. </p>
<p>Further, as more of us live in <a href="https://theconversation.com/plurilingual-parenting-why-many-experts-think-families-who-speak-multiple-languages-should-just-go-with-the-flow-185255#:%7E:text=Plurilingual%20parenting%20involves%20a%20liberal,parents%20are%20okay%20with%20that.">super-diverse societies</a>, parents from <a href="https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10315/35884">different backgrounds</a> are choosing names that can work <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/What's-in-a-Name-An-Exploration-of-the-Significance-Edwards-Caballero/22b0404597b55e58db129d22247a819568c03190">across cultures</a>. Here, names are often as much about personal taste as they are a means of passing on cultural heritage.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young boys play tugowar in a green field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473953/original/file-20220713-9289-jb1to0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473953/original/file-20220713-9289-jb1to0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473953/original/file-20220713-9289-jb1to0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473953/original/file-20220713-9289-jb1to0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473953/original/file-20220713-9289-jb1to0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473953/original/file-20220713-9289-jb1to0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473953/original/file-20220713-9289-jb1to0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Noah tops best boys’ names lists in several countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/w55SpMmoPgE">Anna Samoylova | Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How naming trends can cross borders</h2>
<p>As with any trend, name fashions vary from country to country – and within linguistic contexts too. Alfie is one of the most <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/babynamesenglandandwalesbabynamesstatisticsboys">popular boys names in England and Wales</a>, but almost entirely <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/">overlooked in the US</a>. </p>
<p>Sometimes, however, a trend can cross borders. Noah and Ella are in every top names list from <a href="https://www.dst.dk/da/Statistik/emner/borgere/navne/navne-til-nyfoedte">Denmark</a>, <a href="https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/navn/statistikk/navn">Norway</a> and <a href="https://scb.se/hitta-statistik/sverige-i-siffror/namnsok/">Sweden</a> to <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2019/relateddata">the UK</a>. And chances are that you probably know several Emmas, because this is a name that has taken almost <a href="https://names.ku.dk/selectednames/emma/">the entire Western world</a> by storm since the late 1900s.</p>
<p>More recently, research shows that the past few years have seen changes in the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29213180/">traditional perceptions</a> of boys’ names and girls’ names. A growing focus on names that can be used regardless of gender has emerged. </p>
<p>Data from birth registrations in <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2020">England and Wales for 2020</a> shows that Ivy-Rose was the most highly ranked hyphenated forename for girls (at number 229, with 202 babies so-named). Tommy-Lee was the most highly ranked hyphenated forename for boys (at number 454, with just 87 babies called this). If you really want your future child’s name to be more distinctive among their peers, a two-part moniker might be the way to go.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185546/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How we name our children follows trends like any other cultural expression. It’s about taste as well as broader societal shifts.Jane Pilcher, Associate Professor of Sociology, Nottingham Trent UniversityBirgit Eggert, Assistant professor in Nordic Studies, University of CopenhagenKatrine Bechsgaard, Postdoctoral scholar, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1207262019-08-07T22:36:04Z2019-08-07T22:36:04ZBaby naming time? Here’s how people judge what’s in a name<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286620/original/file-20190801-169680-f0a4c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=394%2C863%2C5267%2C3220&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Does it matter what something or someone is called? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
-Shakespeare, <em>Romeo & Juliet</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>There has always been an interest in how the name of a thing affects our interpretation of it. Does it matter what something or someone is called? Imagine that you are going to meet either “Anne” or “Kate” (or “Owen” or “Kirk”). Would you expect different kinds of people, based on their names? Who would you expect to be kinder? Who would you expect to be more outgoing? </p>
<p>Across <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000662">three recent experiments</a> conducted with our colleagues from the University of Calgary — Joshua Bourdage and Kristen Deschamps — we found that people with softer-sounding names like “Anne” or “Owen” were expected to be more agreeable, emotional and hardworking; while people with harder-sounding names like “Kate” or “Kirk” were expected to be more outgoing.</p>
<p>Why might the name of a person suggest different kinds of personality? Over the past century or so, research on <a href="http://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199641604.013.030">sound symbolism</a> has demonstrated that people will associate certain language sounds with particular properties. For example, the two words: “maluma” and “takete” <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-takete-maluma-effect-first-introduced-by-Koehler-1929-The-majority-of-participants_fig1_233397424">were first used in 1929 by linguist researchers</a>. How would you pair them with the two shapes below? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285858/original/file-20190726-43118-1jvgowj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285858/original/file-20190726-43118-1jvgowj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285858/original/file-20190726-43118-1jvgowj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285858/original/file-20190726-43118-1jvgowj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285858/original/file-20190726-43118-1jvgowj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285858/original/file-20190726-43118-1jvgowj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285858/original/file-20190726-43118-1jvgowj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Which shape of the ones pictured here would you associate with the made-up words ‘maluma’ and ‘takete?’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Created from models by Penny Pexman/David Sidhu</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you’re like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2041669517724807">90 per cent of the people studied worldwide</a>, you probably paired “maluma” with the round shape, and “takete” with the jagged shape. Something about the sounds in these words (or maybe even how they feel as you say them) <a href="https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-017-1361-1">makes them seem to go along better with the round or the jagged shape.</a> There have also been demonstrations of certain language sounds seeming like better fits for <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01246">shapes of certain sizes, colours and even those travelling at certain speeds</a>. </p>
<p>In our research, we asked the question: what about the sounds in a person’s name? Will they also lead to certain expectations about the person? <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126809">Beyond associations with visual properties like shape</a> or size, could the sounds in names also be associated with different personalities?</p>
<h2>People with abrupt-sounding names are seen as extroverted</h2>
<p>We compared names containing what are called sonorant consonants (e.g. /m/ or /l/) to those containing “voiceless stop consonants” (e.g. /k/ or /t/). Sonorants are characterized by a more smooth and continuous sound, while voiceless stops are more abrupt. </p>
<p>Compare the consonants in “Mom, I’m online now!” to “Pop’s kite! It cracked!” These are very different kinds of sounds, and so we asked if names containing these different sounds would be associated with different personalities. </p>
<p>Some examples of names we used include: Kate, Tia, Etta for the voiceless stop names and Anne, Noelle, Laurel for sonorant ones. For men, voiceless stop names included Kirk, Kurt and Tate and sonorant ones were: Owen, Noel and Lou.</p>
<p>We looked at the six personality factors from the <a href="http://hexaco.org/scaledescriptions">HEXACO</a> model of personality: Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness (how hardworking and organized a person is) and Openness (to experience). In our first two experiments, participants were asked how much they expected people with either sonorants or voiceless stops in their names to have these different personalities. </p>
<p>In general, we found that participants expected people with names like “Anne” or “Owen” to be high in Agreeableness, Emotionality and Conscientiousness. Conversely, they expected people with names like “Kate” or “Kirk” to be high in Extroversion. </p>
<h2>72 made-up names — and how they get judged</h2>
<p>In a follow up experiment, we were curious how much this had to do with the names themselves versus the sounds that they contained. For example, maybe participants were just thinking of <a href="https://i0.wp.com/metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/james-kirk-main.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&zoom=1&resize=644%2C482&ssl=1">Captain Kirk</a> when they judged that “Kirk” is highly extroverted. </p>
<p>So, we found uncommon or made up names that still contained sonorants or voiceless stops, but that participants wouldn’t associate with existing people. Examples of sonorant names are: Ammel, Nilo and Leonne and examples of voiceless stop names we used were: Triss, Seka and Treek.</p>
<p>We found the same effects once again. Also, if you are ever looking for an original name for a baby, we have 72 ready to go! And we know what kinds of personalities people will associate with them!</p>
<p>A few ideas: Lona was rated as being very agreeable and shy. Kipus was rated as being very extroverted, but not so agreeable.</p>
<p>At this point we were curious — as you the reader probably are too — to know if these associations are reflected in the real world. Are people with sonorants in their names actually kinder than people with voiceless stops in their names? </p>
<p>This sounds outlandish, but there is recent work showing that individuals might change their appearance over time to look <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000076">like their names</a>. Might it also work for their personalities? </p>
<h2>No truth to the judgment</h2>
<p>To find out, we tested over a thousand people, collecting information about their personalities and their names. We found that the answer was a resounding “no.” None of the associations that we observed in our experiments existed in the real world. There was no evidence that “Annes” are actually kinder than “Kates,” or that “Kurts” are more outgoing than “Owens.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286630/original/file-20190801-169684-9ap8b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286630/original/file-20190801-169684-9ap8b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286630/original/file-20190801-169684-9ap8b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286630/original/file-20190801-169684-9ap8b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286630/original/file-20190801-169684-9ap8b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286630/original/file-20190801-169684-9ap8b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286630/original/file-20190801-169684-9ap8b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But our other experiments show that people might think they are (if all they know about someone is their name). </p>
<p>This again suggests that the effect comes from the sounds of the names and is not inferred from the personalities of real people. So what is it about the sound in “Anne” that makes it seem especially kind? The maluma/takete effect is often explained by a sort of metaphorical extension of the qualities of the sounds or feelings of the words to the shapes. “Maluma” feels softer than “takete” as you say it, and it also involves less abrupt changes in sound. </p>
<p>This matches the smooth outline of the round shape we showed you earlier when we asked you to choose which shape best matches which sound. <a href="https://benjamins.com/catalog/ill.14.03kaw">Some researchers have suggested</a> that something similar may be happening when sound is matched with personality. Maybe the smoothness of sonorants metaphorically matches an agreeable personality, while the quick changes in voiceless stops match the energetic nature of an extroverted personality. We’ll need more research to know for sure.</p>
<p>This work helps to answer the age-old question posed by Shakespeare: what’s in a name? Our results suggest that names carry information that affects what we expect someone to be like in terms of their personality. </p>
<p>It seems that if “Rose” were to go by another name, she may not seem as sweet.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120726/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penny Pexman receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Sidhu receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.</span></em></p>New research shows that there’s much in a name: people will use the sounds in names to infer someone’s physical and personality traits.Penny Pexman, Professor of Psychology, University of CalgaryDavid Sidhu, PhD Candidate, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1021462018-11-15T11:45:06Z2018-11-15T11:45:06ZWhy are some Americans changing their names?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245384/original/file-20181113-194516-ugciht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For decades, native-born American Jews changed their names to improve their job prospects.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blue-hello-my-name-tag-1192768264?src=Cf8G7gyS1DirSsR7ws36FQ-1-37">Billion Photos/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2008, Newsweek published an article on then-presidential candidate Barack Obama titled “<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/when-barry-became-barack-84255">From Barry to Barack</a>.”</p>
<p>The story explained how Obama’s Kenyan father, Barack Obama Sr., chose Barry as a nickname for himself in 1959 in order “to fit in.” But the younger Barack – who had been called Barry since he was a child – chose to revert to his given name, Barack, in 1980 as a college student coming to terms with his identity. </p>
<p>Newsweek’s story reflects a typical view of name changing: Immigrants in an earlier era changed their names to assimilate, while in our contemporary era of ethnic pride, immigrants and their children are more likely to retain or reclaim ethnic names. </p>
<p>However, my research on name changing suggests a more complicated narrative. For the past 10 years, I’ve studied thousands of name-changing petitions deposited at the New York City Civil Court from 1887 through today. </p>
<p>Those petitions suggest that name changing has changed significantly over time: While it was primarily Jews in the early to mid-20th century who altered their names to avoid discrimination, today it’s a more diverse group of people changing their names for a range of reasons, from qualifying for government benefits to keeping their families unified.</p>
<h2>Jews hope to improve their job prospects</h2>
<p>From the 1910s through the 1960s, the overwhelming majority of people petitioning to change their names weren’t immigrants seeking to have their names Americanized. </p>
<p>Instead, they were native-born American Jews who faced significant institutional discrimination. </p>
<p>In the 1910s and 1920s, many employers wouldn’t hire Jews, and universities began establishing quotas on Jewish applicants. One way to tell if someone was Jewish was his or her name, so it made sense that Jews would want to get rid of names that “sounded” Jewish. </p>
<p>As Dora Sarietzky, a stenographer and typist, <a href="https://nyupress.org/books/9781479867202/">explained in her 1937 petition</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“My name proved to be a great handicap in securing a position. … In order to facilitate securing work, I assumed the name Doris Watson.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since most petitioners were native-born Americans, this wasn’t about fitting in. It was a direct response to racism. </p>
<h2>The changing face of name changing</h2>
<p>While 80 percent of petitioners in 1946 sought to erase their ethnic names and replace them with more generic “American-sounding” ones, <a href="https://nyupress.org/books/9781479867202/">only 25 percent of petitioners in 2002 did the same</a>. Meanwhile, few name changers in the past 50 years have actually made a decision like Barack Obama’s: Only about 5 percent of all name change petitions in 2002 sought a name more ethnically identifiable.</p>
<p>So why, in the 21st century, are people feeling compelled to change their names?</p>
<p>The demographics of name change petitioners today – and the reasons that they give – suggest a complicated story of race, class and culture. </p>
<p>Jewish names disappeared in the petitions over the last two decades of the 20th century. At the same time, the numbers of African-American, Asian and Latino petitioners rose dramatically after 2001. </p>
<p>On the one hand, this reflected the changing demographics of the city. But there was also a marked shift in the class of petitioners. While only 1 percent of petitioners in 1946 lived in a neighborhood with a median income below the poverty line, by 2012, 52 percent of petitioners lived in such a neighborhood. </p>
<h2>Navigating the bureaucracy</h2>
<p>These new petitioners aren’t seeking to improve their educational and job prospects in large numbers, like the Jews of the 1930s and 1940s.</p>
<p>Instead, today’s petitioners seem to be trying to match their names with those of other family members after a divorce, adoption or abandonment. Or they’re looking to fix bureaucratic errors in their records – the misspelled or mistaken names that were long ignored, but have increasingly become major problems in the 21st century.</p>
<p>In the wake of Sept. 11, the nation’s obsession with security translated to <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/trail/etc/fake.html">an increased anxiety surrounding identity documents</a>. This anxiety seems to have particularly burdened the poor, who now need the names on their birth certificates to match drivers’ licenses and other documents in order to get jobs or government benefits.</p>
<p>Roughly 21 percent of petitioners in 2002 sought to correct errors on their vital documents, while in 1942, only about 4 percent of petitions had been submitted to change a mistake on an identification document. </p>
<p>“When I apply for Medicare premium payment program,” <a href="https://nyupress.org/books/9781479867202/">one petitioner explained in 2007</a>, “they denied it because my name doesn’t match my social security card.” </p>
<h2>Why change your name if it won’t help?</h2>
<p>There’s also another key difference between today and the early 20th century: limited upward mobility. </p>
<p>Even though <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w9873">multiple studies have shown</a> that people with African-American-sounding names are more likely to face job discrimination, poor African Americans in Brooklyn and the Bronx aren’t getting rid of their African-American-sounding names.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is because poor or working class people in 21st-century America <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2017/04/21/science.aan3264.full">have fewer possibilities for upward mobility</a> than there were for Jews in the 1940s working as clerks, salesmen and secretaries. </p>
<p>So even if having an ethnic-sounding name might hinder middle-class African Americans’ ability to find a better job, there’s less of an incentive for poor people of color to change their names.</p>
<h2>Racism against Arab-Americans</h2>
<p>There is one striking exception, and it demonstrates the powerful role discrimination continues to play in American society.</p>
<p>After Sept. 11, there was a surge of petitions from people with Arabic-sounding names. </p>
<p>Their petitions were achingly similar to those of Jews in the 1940s, though many of these newer petitioners were more open about the hatred they faced:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Prevailing attitudes and prejudices against persons of Arabic descendancy have been adversely affected as a direct result of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,” one petitioner wrote. “Petitioner wishes to change his name to a less demonstratively Muslim/Arabic first name.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>By 2012, however, petitioners with Muslim or Arabic names had stopped changing their names in large numbers. That probably doesn’t have anything to do with a more tolerant society. Instead, in 2009, the New York City Police Department <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-secret-files-muslims-change-names-sound-american-report-article-1.968327">began conducting surveillance</a> into New York’s Muslim and Arab communities using Civil Court name change petitions, sending the message that the act of changing your name might make you as much of a suspect as keeping it. </p>
<p>Although there has been substantial change in the name change petitions over the past 125 years, there’s one lasting lesson: Name changing is not a simple story. It hasn’t moved smoothly from an era in which immigrants simply wanted to fit in, to an era in which diversity is welcome.</p>
<p>Instead, name changing illustrates that racial hatred and suspicion have been a lasting presence in American history, and that intertwined definitions of race and class are hardening – and limiting – the opportunities of people of color.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102146/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Fermaglich does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The demographics of name change petitioners today – and the reasons that they give – tell a complicated story of race, class and culture.Kirsten Fermaglich, Associate Professor, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1063102018-11-09T11:45:25Z2018-11-09T11:45:25ZMyths and unknowns about chess and the contenders for the World Chess Championship<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244596/original/file-20181108-74775-1y38rie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reigning Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen, left, from Norway, and American challenger Fabiano Caruana will face off in the World Chess Championship, which begins Nov. 9 in London.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Britain-Chess-World-Championship/cb70fb4f09de45d3849ab90dab335bfd/7/0">Matt Dunham/AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If Fabiano Caruana wins the World Chess Championship match against champion Magnus Carlsen this month, he will be the first American to hold the championship title since Bobby Fischer won it in 1972. The match between Caruana, age 26, and Carlsen, age 27, of Norway, takes place in London, England, from Nov. 9 to 28.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://new.uschess.org/international-events/couch-potatos-guide-2018-world-chess-championship/">winner will take home about US$700,000 – or 50 percent more than the loser</a>.</p>
<p>Here are five myths and unknowns about the world chess championship contenders and the game of chess.</p>
<h2>1. Parents name their babies after chess champions</h2>
<p>When Woman Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade and her husband, Daniel Meirom, learned that they were having a son, she told her father that she would name the baby either Fabiano or Magnus. “It started as a joke and then we realized how much we loved it,” Shahade told The Conversation. Shahade’s son Fabian was born in January 2017, before Fabiano Caruana became the challenger for the World Chess Championship but after Shahade had admired Caruana’s 7-0 win and sportsmanlike attitude in the <a href="https://uschesschamps.com/2014-sinquefield-cup">2014 Sinquefield Cup</a>. </p>
<p>Other parents may have had the same idea. According to the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/index.html">Social Security Administration</a>, the name “Magnus” first made the list of the top 1,000 baby names in the United States in 2013, the same year that Magnus Carlsen became world chess champion. It will be interesting to see if the name “Fabian” – or “Fabiano” – experiences a surge if Caruana wins the match and becomes the World Chess Champion. </p>
<p>Status: Unknown.</p>
<h2>2. Chess is not a sport</h2>
<p>People may not think that it requires much stamina to move chess pieces and pawns from one square to another. However, as mentioned in my 2006 book <a href="https://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=F2132P">“Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators</a>,” chess players sitting at the board experience a quickened heartbeat and higher blood pressure, similar to what athletes experience when they compete in their sports.</p>
<p>Many, if not most, chess players <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/03/sports/bobby-fischer-chess-caruana.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesworld&fbclid=IwAR12tfOTjQ2caDeOrcxWRBoB0030kMWrTVZueTACeKHg3wVhXaayGLIpL-8">view chess as a sport</a> and approach it as such. For instance, the 2018 U.S. Open chess champion Timur Gareyev – a grandmaster known for playing numerous players at once while blindfolded – has promoted the <a href="https://new.uschess.org/news/timur-gareyev-to-attempt-blindfold-world-record/">benefits of exercise for chess players</a>.</p>
<p>Carlsen and Caruana stay in top physical shape to meet the demands of chess. Carlsen <a href="https://new.uschess.org/news/who-is-magnus-carlsen/">plays soccer, basketball and tennis</a> and also enjoys hiking and skiing. Caruana also plays basketball and soccer and partakes in <a href="https://new.uschess.org/news/who-is-fabiano-caruana/">indoor rock climbing</a>.</p>
<p>Status: Myth.</p>
<h2>3. You need 10,000 hours of practice to be a chess master</h2>
<p>The 10,000 hour rule has been popularized by books such as Malcolm Gladwell’s <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/malcolm-gladwell/outliers/9780316017930/">“Outliers: The Story of Success</a>.” However, according to <a href="https://www.crcpress.com/The-Psychology-of-Chess/Gobet/p/book/9781138216655">“The Psychology of Chess</a>,” a new book by University of Liverpool psychology professor <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/psychology-health-and-society/staff/fernand-gobet/">Fernand Gobet</a>, some need less than 10,000 hours.</p>
<p>Though grandmaster is an even higher title than “master,” Carlsen became a grandmaster at age 13. Caruana got his grandmaster title at age 14. “The quickest players needed only 3,000 hours of deliberate practice to reach master level,” Gobet wrote, based on his research using data from the World Chess Federation. On the other hand, some chess players spend 25,000 hours of deliberate practice – and never make master. Gobet arrived at these findings in a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226396370_Deliberate_Practice_Necessary_But_Not_Sufficient">study</a> conducted with his then-Ph.D. student Guillermo Campitelli.</p>
<p>Status: Myth.</p>
<h2>4. Starting chess as an adult gives you an advantage</h2>
<p>While one might think that adults have the edge in improving at chess, due to their emotional maturity for handling wins and losses and their fully developed intellects, it just is not so. “Starting young clearly helps,” Gobet told me in an <a href="https://www.utdallas.edu/chess/files/interview-fernand-gobet.pdf">interview for Chess Life magazine</a>. “In our <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226396370_Deliberate_Practice_Necessary_But_Not_Sufficient">study</a>, individuals who started playing chess at or before the age of 12 years old had 1 chance out 4 of becoming a master, as compared to 1 chance out of 55 for people who started to play after the age of 12. So, there is truth in the saying that ‘You have to start young at chess to become really great at chess.’”</p>
<p>Status: Myth.</p>
<h2>5. Chess helps prevent Alzheimer’s</h2>
<p>An <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117588&page=1">ABC news story</a> published March 6, 2018 stated, “Chess, jigsaw puzzles and other mentally challenging activities may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, a study published today says.” A 2013 <a href="https://en.chessbase.com/post/checkmating-alzheimers-disease-210513">ChessBase News article</a> likewise cites chess as one of several mind sports that “will be beneficial to an older adult.” Yet rigorous research that specifically examines the impact of chess on Alzheimer’s does not exist. Right now, chess just seems a likely way to maintain mental agility as one ages.</p>
<p>Status: Unknown.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106310/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexey W. Root does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With the World Chess Championship set to begin Nov. 9 in London, Alexey Root, who teaches online courses about chess in education, tackles some myths and unknowns about the royal game.Alexey W. Root, Lecturer in Education, University of Texas at DallasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/969332018-05-24T07:53:21Z2018-05-24T07:53:21ZPopularity of ‘Donald’ plunges as ‘Melania’ rises: how names accrue social meaning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220085/original/file-20180523-51091-15exbgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C997%2C761&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On the up.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cleveland-ohio-usa-july-18th-2016-633214967?src=MJouZKmqSsGrga7k69rOrw-1-0">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While his overall approval ratings might remain surprisingly <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/07/politics/cnn-poll-trump-steady-right-direction-rises/index.html">upbeat</a>, there’s one poll in which “The Donald” has seen a consistent decline. As <a href="http://time.com/4777157/donald-baby-name-popularity/">Time</a> magazine announced in 2017: “The Popularity of ‘Donald’ as a Baby Name Has Hit an All-Time Low.” And this downward trend has continued in 2018. According <a href="https://qz.com/1277510/baby-name-trends-a-lot-more-americans-are-naming-their-babies-melania-and-ivanka-donald-not-so-much/">to social security data</a>, fewer people named their newborns “Donald” over the last 12 months than at any time in the past 80 years. </p>
<p>On the upside for the Trumps, “Melania”, “Barron” and even “Ivanka” have seen a <a href="https://www.livescience.com/62546-most-popular-baby-names.html">boost</a> to their popularity. So has the trend to choose <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/number-of-us-babies-being-named-after-guns-on-the-increase-10479753.html">gun-related names</a>, with a growing number of babies called “Trigger”, “Shooter” and “Magnum”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/before-you-name-your-baby-consider-this-84351">Before you name your baby, consider this...</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s in a name?</h2>
<p>Names are a curious form of language. As the novelist P. G. Wodehouse <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeeves_and_the_Feudal_Spirit">wrote</a>: “There’s some raw work pulled at the font from time to time.” He was talking from personal experience, having been lumbered with the rather unwieldy “Pelham Grenville” at birth. The trouble comes from the way that names accrue a meaning from the culture in which they’re used. They have a strange relationship with our identity. A name can shape a person’s personality, along with their decisions and life chances. But conversely, some people’s names shape the language right back.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220089/original/file-20180523-117628-1gy2oir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220089/original/file-20180523-117628-1gy2oir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220089/original/file-20180523-117628-1gy2oir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220089/original/file-20180523-117628-1gy2oir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220089/original/file-20180523-117628-1gy2oir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220089/original/file-20180523-117628-1gy2oir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220089/original/file-20180523-117628-1gy2oir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Racial prejudice can come simply from a name.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/father-holding-newborn-baby-son-nursery-627696287?src=S17ZgmVnP85GCQJrGKoBBw-1-32">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first part of this equation works as follows. Just as your parents might choose a name which accords with their own social values, so people often judge others on the associations suggested by theirs. This is most clearly seen in the unconscious racial prejudice that can creep into job interviews. </p>
<p>A 2004 <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/0002828042002561">study</a> by Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan, found that candidates with names such as Lakisha Washington and Jamal Jones were far less likely to get called to an interview than people named Emily Walsh and Greg Baker, even when all other qualifications for the job were equal. And a similar effect has been recorded in the way that pupils <a href="https://www.thelocal.de/20090918/22019">fare at school</a>.</p>
<p>Then there’s the way we judge ourselves based on our own names. “Nominative determinism” is the idea that people are more drawn to professions which relate to, or sound like, their own names. The term was coined by the journalist John Hoyland in 1994, although the concept goes back much further than this. In his 1952 book, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity">Synchronicity</a>, for example, psychologist Carl Jung wrote that there was “sometimes quite grotesque coincidence between a man’s name and his peculiarities”. He gave the example of his colleague Sigmund Freud, whose surname means “joy” and who spent his career investigating phenomena such as the “pleasure principle”. </p>
<p>A more recent example from the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23731711-200-feedback-where-nominative-determinism-grows-like-a-weed/">New Scientist</a> noted how the Royal Horticultural Society included among its staff “four Heathers, three Berrys and another three called Moss”. One explanation for why this may be the case (and it should be noted that the scientific evidence for the phenomenon <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11999918">is mixed</a>) is that it’s a form of “implicit egotism”: people tend to unconsciously favour things they see as related to them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/storm-doris-giving-dangerous-weather-a-human-name-makes-us-more-wary-says-research-66859">Storm Doris: giving dangerous weather a human name makes us more wary, says research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Gordon Bennett!</h2>
<p>Yet just as language can influence personality, so personalities can also influence our language. There are a number of examples where the names of real people have come to stand for a particular quality or behaviour in English. The word “boycott”, for instance, derives from the British landowner <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Boycott">Captain Charles Boycott</a>, who was socially ostracised by the Irish Land League in 1880. </p>
<p>Likewise the word “quisling”, referring to a traitor who collaborates with the enemy, is named after the Norwegian World War II military officer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling">Vidkun Quisling</a> who operated as a Nazi collaborationist. And then there’s “gerrymander”, coined by the Boston Gazette in 1812 when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbridge_Gerry">Governor Elbridge Gerry</a> redrew the electoral boundaries in Massachusetts to benefit his own party. As one, the redrawn districts ended up looking like a salamander, so the journalist covering the story simply blended governor and lizard together to form the new word.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220086/original/file-20180523-51095-qwjwmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220086/original/file-20180523-51095-qwjwmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220086/original/file-20180523-51095-qwjwmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220086/original/file-20180523-51095-qwjwmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220086/original/file-20180523-51095-qwjwmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220086/original/file-20180523-51095-qwjwmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220086/original/file-20180523-51095-qwjwmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">James Gordon Bennett Jr – a surprising figure.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While these examples relate to the infamous actions of the people concerned, there are also instances where personality more generally has translated into everyday vocabulary. “<a href="https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/gordon-bennett.html">Gordon Bennett</a>”, used as an expression of shock or incredulity, is one of the most notable. The phrase derives from the real-life James Gordon Bennett Jr, an American publisher and amateur sportsman, known for his rather wild and eccentric behaviour. </p>
<p>It’s not always as easy as this though to determine whether phrases are inspired by real people or not. Was Larry, of <a href="https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/as-happy-as-larry.html">Happy as Larry</a> fame, an actual individual? One hypothesis is that it refers to the Australian boxer Larry Foley, who went undefeated throughout his career. And how about <a href="https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-life-of-riley.html">Riley</a>, who lived a life of carefree ease? The best guess here is that it refers to the hero of a 19th-century Irish folk ballad, who did indeed enjoy an admirably relaxed existence.</p>
<p>All these cases illustrate the way that language is built from the culture in which we live. Be it the names of individual people, of communities (Spartan, vandal), or of literary characters (Scrooge, Romeo) we draw on examples from the world around us to communicate our thoughts and feelings. And the examples that prove most popular become conventionalised as part of our everyday vocabulary. </p>
<p>As to the influence the name Donald is likely to have on contemporary society, it’s probably too early to say. But for advocates of the idea that one’s name is one’s destiny, it’s worth noting that the <a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/donald">Celtic origins</a> of “Donald” rather ominously mean “ruler of the world”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96933/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Seargeant does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A Rose by any other name might not choose to become a gardener, and other odd quirks in how names affect us.Philip Seargeant, Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/843512017-09-20T09:39:43Z2017-09-20T09:39:43ZBefore you name your baby, consider this…<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186760/original/file-20170920-927-1h6ykdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'I'm called what?!'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/717291058?src=Dpri75sdlqyZBNZyKUy24A-6-26&size=medium_jpg">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year, the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on the latest trends in <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2016">baby forenames</a>. The most popular names for baby girls now include Amelia, Olivia, and Emily, and for baby boys, Oliver, Jack and Harry. Aside from showing what’s “in” and what’s “out”, the baby names data also reveal a lot more about society – touching on issues such as gender, ethnicity and social class differences and identities.</p>
<p>For parents-to-be, choosing one of the more popular forenames may mean that your “Jack” or “Emily” is just one among several so-named children in their class at school. Conversely, choosing a rarer name for your child could make them too distinctive, and potentially a target of bullying. It’s no wonder that choosing the forename your newborn will have for the rest of its life can be exciting and daunting at the same time.</p>
<p>But actually, the dilemma for parents-to-be is even more complex and powerful. And that is because forenames themselves are more complex and powerful than most of us realise. We tend to think of forenames as nouns (“naming words”). But the full cultural power of forenames is best revealed when we think of them as adjectives (“describing words”). As I have argued elsewhere, forenames do a huge amount of <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0038038515582157">cultural work</a>. What’s in a name? Gender, ethnicity, even social class – that’s what.</p>
<h2>Forging an identity</h2>
<p>Probably the single most important aspect is in terms of sex and gender. Look at the ONS’s annual list of baby forenames – it’s split into those for “boys” and those for “girls”. In England and Wales, as in most societies around the world, forenames are almost always sex and gender specific: few forenames are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249176074_The_Instability_of_Androgynous_Names_The_Symbolic_Maintenance_of_Gender_Boundaries">sex and gender neutral</a>. </p>
<p>Forenames, then, “display” sex and gender. But because forenames are such a robust predictor of an individual’s sex and gender, they can lead to discrimination. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22988126">One study showed</a> that, in otherwise identical job applications for the post of a laboratory manager, candidates with the forename “John” were rated more highly than were candidates with the forename “Jennifer”. </p>
<p>Forenames also reveal ethnicity and <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2008.00776.x">racialised identities</a>. One study <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/fryer/publications/causes-and-consequences-distinctively-black-names">analysed US data on forenames by race</a>. Forenames such as Shanice and Precious were found to be relatively popular among Black girls, but virtually unheard of among White girls. Meanwhile, forenames for boys such as Connor and Jake were found to be distinctively White, with less than two per cent of those so named being Black. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186761/original/file-20170920-935-fdm32a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186761/original/file-20170920-935-fdm32a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186761/original/file-20170920-935-fdm32a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186761/original/file-20170920-935-fdm32a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186761/original/file-20170920-935-fdm32a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186761/original/file-20170920-935-fdm32a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186761/original/file-20170920-935-fdm32a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Harry: inspiring a new generation of Harrys?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/456077158?src=DQcvFHvdCpHdAhihTUlo0A-2-56&size=medium_jpg">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In England and Wales, ONS data on baby name trends show that Muhammad was the eighth most popular name given to baby boys in 2016. Within Muslim families, the forename Muhammad (or one of its spelling variations) is very dominant because it is traditional to name baby boys after the prophet of Islam in order to honour and respect him.</p>
<h2>Disadvantages</h2>
<p>Forenames may proudly display ethnicity and/or faith in these ways, but having a forename that is perceived to be “ethnic” can also have its disadvantages. A <a href="http://natcen.ac.uk/our-research/research/a-test-for-racial-discrimination-in-recruitment-practice-in-british-cities/">study for the UK Department of Work and Pensions</a> tested for racial discrimination in recruitment practices by sending out sets of equivalent applications to job vacancies across the UK, using forenames and surnames commonly associated with minority groups. To get a job interview, 74 per cent more applications from candidates with ethnic minority names had to be sent out compared to candidates with “white” names. </p>
<p>And what about social class? Well, forename choices have diversified over time – people now have a much wider pool of potential forenames to choose from than the “traditional” ones so dominant in the past. Consequently, forenames may now reveal more about social class than they used to. </p>
<p>Harry and Amelia are now among the most popular names in general, but there are forenames which are more popular in some social classes than others. And, as with gender and ethnicity, forenames can reveal an individual’s class or social standing. One <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26634477">study by Gregory Clark</a> examined the forenames of first year students at the University of Oxford between 2008 and 2013. There were more than three times as many Eleanors at Oxford than might have been expected given the popularity of the name across society. But there were fewer than a 30th of girls called Jade and Shannon than might be expected. </p>
<p>So, forenames are not just nouns: they describe cultural identities and can have social consequences. What does your forename say about you?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84351/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Pilcher is a member of the Labour Party.</span></em></p>The latest UK baby name data is in. But a name is more than just a noun, it can reveal who you are and where you come from.Jane Pilcher, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/154102013-07-18T20:55:58Z2013-07-18T20:55:58ZAnne likes Alex but not Bob: what your name really says about you<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27216/original/t2qrnmq8-1373427738.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3771%2C2472&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What you name your child might affect them more than you know.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">foshydog</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine you’re on a spaceship with engine trouble. Your captain knows she must land the ship for repairs. The navigator identifies two viable planets that could do the job. Little is known of either, other than the Lamonians inhabit one, and the Grataks the other. </p>
<p>Which to choose?</p>
<p>With no other information to hand, the captain, if she is like most earthlings, is likely to select the former: Lamonia. Apparently, and by virtue of their name alone, Lamonians <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jul/18/ugliest-words-michael-jackson-biographies">seem “nicer”</a> than Grataks.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27213/original/68jdm98y-1373422587.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27213/original/68jdm98y-1373422587.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27213/original/68jdm98y-1373422587.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27213/original/68jdm98y-1373422587.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27213/original/68jdm98y-1373422587.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27213/original/68jdm98y-1373422587.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1237&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27213/original/68jdm98y-1373422587.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1237&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27213/original/68jdm98y-1373422587.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1237&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Which is Kiki and which is Bouba?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">R Van Der Zwan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The captain’s decision is an example of the effect on our behaviours of “<a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Uov84NavOR8C&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=%E2%80%9Cvisual,+tactile,+or+proprioceptive+properties+of+objects%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=6bZgUKniug&sig=dVDt5L_CYnYxt0Iv_G9XTfXDe0g&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5sDcUdvJC4O2kgX0p4CwDw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Cvisual%2C%20tactile%2C%20or%20proprioceptive%20properties%20of%20objects%E2%80%9D&f=false">sound symbolism</a>”. </p>
<p>Sound symbolism is a phenomenon whereby the visual, tactile or proprioceptive properties of objects reliably predict the sound patterns (or phonemes) of the words by which they are described.</p>
<p>The so-called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect">Kiki/Bouba effect</a> is another example. Individuals who must choose between Kiki and Bouba as names for a spiky or rounded figure most often assign to the spiky figure “Kiki”. Similar effects have been shown for words relating to <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/mark/2000/00000011/00000001/00242978">glimmer and speed</a> and for <a href="http://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/261706">size</a>.</p>
<p>Sound symbolism arose, it’s been <a href="http://www.imprint.co.uk/rama/synaesthesia.pdf">argued</a>, because early languages developed as mechanisms for internalising physical characteristics of the external world. How things look, sound or are otherwise perceived was effectively internalised in the process of developing effective languages.</p>
<h2>What <em>is</em> in a name?</h2>
<p>Consistent with old-fashioned social roles for each sex, names given to girls tend to sound more decorative or “pretty”. Those given to boys tend towards sounding more <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=17147">functional and powerful</a>. </p>
<p>Using English monikers as examples, female names tend to be longer than male names, are more likely to have unstressed/weak initial syllables, and tend to end on a vowel sound. Indeed, female names also typically have more instances of the letter “i” and so contain more vowel sounds generally.</p>
<p>Social roles have, of course, changed. Nonetheless, there is evidence that sound symbolism persists in the names given to kids.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27217/original/6hxcgms3-1373427915.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27217/original/6hxcgms3-1373427915.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27217/original/6hxcgms3-1373427915.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27217/original/6hxcgms3-1373427915.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27217/original/6hxcgms3-1373427915.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27217/original/6hxcgms3-1373427915.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27217/original/6hxcgms3-1373427915.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27217/original/6hxcgms3-1373427915.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">sensesmaybenumbed</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One reliable difference between the sexes is physical size: human female babies are typically smaller than male babies. And, perhaps surprisingly, even when they are the same size as their male counterparts, female babies are <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01547725">perceived as being smaller</a>. </p>
<p>Smallness is captured in words by using high-pitched sounds, of which the most extreme example is the ‘ë’ phoneme (as in the “y” in “baby”). Real and perceived size differences in babies are reflected in contemporary name choices. </p>
<p>A review of the names registered for babies born in New South Wales for the years from 2001 to 2011 shows the number of different female names containing the ‘ë’ phoneme exceeded the number of different male names by more than two to one: <a href="http://www.nsw.gov.au/baby-names">46% compared to 22%</a>.</p>
<p>For the same period, the popularity of those female names as a label for new bubs was far greater than the popularity of their male name counterparts: 50% compared to 20%. That is, there were more female names than male names with sounds consistent with smallness and those names were more often given. </p>
<p>That pattern of naming is not new. Of all baby names given in the US for a hundred years, beginning in 1910, the proportion of female names containing the ‘ë’ phoneme was 40%. For males the proportion was 24%. Just as for New South Wales, those female names containing the high pitched ‘ë’ were more often chosen than were male names containing ‘ë’: <a href="http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/">40% for females and 15.0% for males</a>.</p>
<h2>Your name is important</h2>
<p>The impact of name selection extends beyond sound symbolism. Assigned names correlate strongly with a number of life choices and outcomes, a phenomenon known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism">nominative determinism</a> (of which there are <a href="http://www.urologyteam.com/?q=dr-richard-chopp">plenty</a> of <a href="http://www.roe.ac.uk/%7Eafh/">interesting</a> <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2006/05/03/law-blog-lawyer-of-the-day-sullivan-cromwells-sue-yoo/">examples</a>). </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27229/original/7p92mwyf-1373435418.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27229/original/7p92mwyf-1373435418.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27229/original/7p92mwyf-1373435418.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27229/original/7p92mwyf-1373435418.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27229/original/7p92mwyf-1373435418.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27229/original/7p92mwyf-1373435418.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27229/original/7p92mwyf-1373435418.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27229/original/7p92mwyf-1373435418.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Green aka atoach</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One facet of nominative determinism is the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16000270">name-letter effect</a>: Audrey is more likely to drive an Audi than a Toyota. She is more likely to partner up with either Anna or Anthony than she is with Trudy or Tom. She is more likely to live in Acapulco or Adelaide than Tamworth or Taipei.</p>
<p>The mechanism by which that pattern of choice manifests seems to be associated with self-esteem. Own-name liking is associated with self-liking via unconscious or <a href="http://www.stat.columbia.edu/%7Egelman/stuff_for_blog/susie.pdf">implicit egotism</a>. </p>
<p>The catch is that the outcomes of implicit egotism are not always positive. For example, no one playing baseball wants to strike out. But those players whose names begin K, the letter indicating a strike-out on a scorecard, are <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/18/12/1106.short">more likely to do exactly that</a> than are their teammates (begging the question: is Larry more likely than his teammates to get bowled LBW?).</p>
<p>Similarly, students whose names begin with an A or a B are more likely to have a higher grade point average than are students whose names begin with C or D! It appears the letters making up our initials can, unconsciously, be so important to us they reduce our need to avoid negative outcomes associated with those letters.</p>
<p>Name selection, it seems, is a high-value human behaviour. Parents beware: if you’d like your kids to be a leader in, say, business, Catherine Elizabeth Olive or Charles Edward Oakley might be a better label than Patricia Anne or Peter Alan.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/15410/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Imagine you’re on a spaceship with engine trouble. Your captain knows she must land the ship for repairs. The navigator identifies two viable planets that could do the job. Little is known of either, other…Ricky van der Zwan, Associate Professor in Neuroscience and Psychology, Southern Cross UniversityAnna Brooks, Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/48852012-01-11T02:19:49Z2012-01-11T02:19:49ZJay-Z, Beyoncé, baby Blue Ivy and the art of naming<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6865/original/wwb3fc3s-1326241059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=94%2C55%2C2844%2C1905&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Celebrities Jay-Z and Beyonce called their newborn child Blue Ivy. But can the rest of us get away with less orthodox names?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>American rock band Modest Mouse’s song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmqlI5rSuws">Black Cadillacs</a> (2004) has a particularly wonderful opening:</p>
<p><em>And it’s true we named our children /
After towns that we’ve never been to</em></p>
<p>Inside a song filled with negative imagery about graves and funerals, the suggestion is that there are <em>better</em> modes of naming children. Even in those cases where the parents might even have <em>been</em> to the places they’re using as first names – think the Beckhams’ son Brooklyn or Alicia Key’s baby Egypt – the names are still regularly considered unusual at best, crass at worst. </p>
<p>The recent birth of Beyoncé’s baby <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/9001909/Why-Beyonce-named-her-daughter-Blue-Ivy.html">Blue Ivy</a> and the release of the 2011 Victorian <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/weird-and-wonderful-names-for-babies/story-fn7x8me2-1226239348738">baby name report</a> has again put the name game on the agenda. Once again magazines will print the top 20 crazy celebrity offspring names and newspapers will again spotlight the latest peculiarities. This week granted Beyoncé fans the opportunity to analyse whether husband Jay Z’s favourite colour was the inspiration <em>and</em> treated snobs to a chance to eyeball a list of bastardised incarnations.</p>
<p>So what motivates the bizarre creations, the peculiar spellings and the gifting of one’s offspring the burden of learning the phonetic alphabet just to order a Papa India Zulu Zulu Alfa over the phone? And what becomes of the Pilot Inspektor, Apples and other oddly named celebrity spawn and their Victorian non-celebrity Beyden and Blayde counterparts? Surely no one holds public office, performs heart surgery or works on a construction site with a name like Fifi Trixibelle?</p>
<p>Presumably every parent sees their child as unique, as special, as distinct from all the other red-faced screamers in the nursery. So what better way to acknowledge this than with a unique, special and distinct name? And if you’re a celebrity of the paparazzi-tipping-off ilk, surely a sure fire way to get yourself - and your offspring - remembered by the plebs is with a name that, even if widely loathed and lampooned, won’t soon be forgotten?</p>
<p>Infamy of course, isn’t the only rationale. For some, shuffling about the Scrabble tiles to concoct something vaguely pronounceable also allows parents to demonstrate creativity. Rather than simply reading the baby name book like all their lazy Lamaze class colleagues, instead, they made up their own. One might even speculate that a little parental smart-arsery is involved. Surely when actor Rob Morrow named his daughter Tu, or Nicolas Cage named his son Kal-el, some parental tittering was involved. </p>
<p>A couple of years ago I had a lovely student with a particularly odd name. My quizzing of him prompted him to quiz his parents about it. Academics, they turned out to be. Who wanted to give him a name to <em>challenge</em> him. Sociological inquiry or child abuse? Such a fine line!</p>
<p>For the celebrity babies with their fruity, flowery, off-beat, off-kilter names, perhaps all that is tinseltown and fame and wealth makes any name <em>without</em> a high Scrabble score seem bizarre. In some Melbourne schools something similar might unfold, in others however, I dare say such names serve merely as grounds for getting hassled and harangued.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6867/original/6n3h64yc-1326243195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6867/original/6n3h64yc-1326243195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6867/original/6n3h64yc-1326243195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6867/original/6n3h64yc-1326243195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6867/original/6n3h64yc-1326243195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1149&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6867/original/6n3h64yc-1326243195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1149&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6867/original/6n3h64yc-1326243195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1149&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A rose among the Warnes - even the simplest name can have difficulties.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dave Hunt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, it’s hardly all doom and gloom: every name has its calamities, even for those thoroughly innocuous ones that dare use real vowels instead of Ys. With my name for example, the heartbreak lies with no descending characters and thus a missed opportunity for extensive swirling and flourishing. Even with a two syllable, thoroughly Anglosaxon surname, I still have to spell it every time: “Rose like the flower, Warne like the cricketer,” as cringe-worthy as the descriptor feels. </p>
<p>And even then, for a kid who gets mocked mercilessly for a decade or so, the ludicrous moniker needs not be permanent: there’s always the option to follow the leads of Woody Allen and Doris Day and a host of other celebrities and simply <a href="http://www.glamorati.com/celebrity/2008/50-celebrities-real-names/">change it</a>. </p>
<p>To some people American state first names, names with apostrophes and accents, soap star tributes and Star Trek influences - or in the case of my aunty’s offspring, after dogs that “ran away” - are tacky, classless and sentence the child to a lifetime of ridicule. To others however, such names exude mystery and originality. Good names, upstanding names, old-fashioned names are all thoroughly subjective and reveal little on their own except our own prejudices.</p>
<p>Besides, today’s Jaxson and Jazmin will be tomorrow’s grandpa and grandma and suddenly a name that looks pretty ridiculous today will seem thoroughly institutional during roll call at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbpjBheO53U">Shady Pines</a> in a few generations times.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/4885/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Rosewarne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>American rock band Modest Mouse’s song Black Cadillacs (2004) has a particularly wonderful opening: And it’s true we named our children / After towns that we’ve never been to Inside a song filled with…Lauren Rosewarne, Senior Lecturer, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.