Studies showed that children with odd names got worse grades and were less popular than other classmates in elementary school. In college they were more likely to flunk out or become “psychoneurotic.” Prospective bosses spurned their résumés. They were overrepresented among emotionally disturbed children and psychiatric patients.
update:
“Other researchers found that children with unusual names were more likely to have poorer and less educated parents, handicaps that explained their problems in school. Martin Ford and other psychologists reported, after controlling for race and ethnicity, that children with unusual names did as well as others in school.”
A Boy Named Sue, and a Theory of Names, by Marion Tierney
I think your snippet mis-represents the spirit of the article, which is: odd names do not cause poorer grades or neuroses. Here’s an excerpt from the same article:
“Other researchers found that children with unusual names were more likely to have poorer and less educated parents, handicaps that explained their problems in school. Martin Ford and other psychologists reported, after controlling for race and ethnicity, that children with unusual names did as well as others in school.”
Sorry to be snarky, but based on your post, I was expecting the exact opposite of what the article actually espouses.
Mar 13th, 2008 / 10:35 am
This explains everything.
Mar 13th, 2008 / 10:40 am
I heard something similar one time, that this holds true for children who are all named with names that start with the same letter–you know like Jason, Jillian, James etc.
Mar 13th, 2008 / 11:07 am
Thanks for the clarification Theo. I thought the quote seems strange. Also, I think geography plays a role. Have my name (for instance) and living in New York City or Memphis is going to be the same thing, I assure you.
Mar 13th, 2008 / 12:29 pm
My boyfriend is named “Jim Jones” and nearly everyone he meets for the first time responds with some dumb joke about the cult leader of the same name (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones). While it annoys the heck out of me, he has an arsenal of witty replies that he manages to use over and over. I have asked him if he ever just wants to punch the billionth person with the Kool-aid reference… and he just lets it roll off of his back just like the article says.
Mar 13th, 2008 / 1:06 pm