I was just wondering, do these factual lists affect whether or not you like these baby names?

Question

The best-seller "Freakonomics," mentions these baby name lists (they come from data collected on all the mothers who gave birth in California in 2000).

The 20 white girl names that best signify high-education parents:

1. Lucienne

2. Marie-claire

3. Glynnis

4. Adair

5. Meira

6. Beatrix

7. Clementine

8. Phillipa

9. Aviva

10. Flannery

11. Rotem

12. Oona

13. Atara

14. Linden

15. Waverly

16. Zofia

17. Pascale

18. Eleanora

19. Elika

20. Neeka

The 20 white girl names that best signify low-education parents:

1. Angel

2. Heaven

3. Misty

4. Destiny

5. Brenda

6. Tabatha

7. Bobbie

8. Brandy

9. Destinee

10. Cindy

11. Jazmine

12. Shyanne

13. Britany

14. Mercedes

15. Tiffanie

16. Ashly

17. Tonya

18. Crystal

19. Brandie

20. Brandi

What about these?

The most common high-end white girl names:

1. Alexandra

2. Lauren

3. Katherine

4. Madison

5. Rachel

The most common low-end white girl names

1. Amber

2. Heather

3. Kayla

4. Stephanie

5. Alyssa

Answer 1

I wouldnt name my child any of those names on the list. Don't like them.

Answer 2

So interesting! I have to admit, when I hear some of these names, a stereotypical image does come to mind. I try not to let it prevent me from liking or disliking a name based on that-- I try to look at the name's physical sound and spelling, ecetera. But, I think both consciously and unconsciously, it affects us and our name preferences! Good question!

Answer 3

I read "Freakanomics" and thought that the really interesting thing is that the names that start out as "high-end" become popular, and then become more common among low-education/income parents than high-education/income parents. I'm in my late teens and've grown up in the suburbs, with lots of Stephanies, Alyssas, Ambers, etc...you rarely meet trashy 20-something Ambers. BUT, for some reason, it seems today that a lot of little girls named Amber/Heather/whatever do appear a little whitetrashy...

Answer 4

I have to admit, that most of those names pretty much speak for themselves. I guess everyone associates a name like Angel or Heaven (or its ugly cousin Nevaeh) with white trash.

We tend to stereotype people with certain names, and apparently, there is a little bit of truth to them, as evidenced here.

Answer 5

whoever makes up these lists and studies must have nothing better to do with their lives.  how ridiculous is this?  i know more than a few higly educated women with your 'common low-end names' such as well as your 'low-education' names!  honestly this kind of thing is so annoying.  sorry hun, its most annoying that someone has set themselves up as judge and jury on names and made money on it by including it in a book!    

Answer 6

all names of the first 2 lists sound bad...and the last 2 lists are all way too common

Answer 7

I don't like any of the names in the second list or the fourth list.  They all sound white trash to me which apparently, they are.

The names I like in the first list are:

Clementine

Linden

Waverly

Pascale

Answer 8

It doesn't affect my opinion at all.  That first list is full of names that I can't even pronounce, but I guess I'm not a "high-education" white girl, am I ;).

My daughter's name isn't on the lists.  I guess you would find it on "red-neck Iowa white-girl names".

Answer 9

Not really, no. I'll delete the ones I don't like, just for fun.

The 20 white girl names that best signify high-education parents:

1. Lucienne

2. Marie-claire

4. Adair

6. Beatrix

7. Clementine

8. Phillipa

18. Eleanora

The 20 white girl names that best signify low-education parents:

The most common high-end white girl names:

3. Katherine

The most common low-end white girl names

Answer 10

I actually don't like MOST of the names on ANY of these lists; but what names I do like are mostly on the "high-end"...

Here's what I like

List 1:

1. Lucienne

7. Clementine

18. Eleanora (Norah)

List 3

2. Lauren

List 4

2. Heather

3. Kayla

I really doubt I'd use these, however.

Answer 11

I read Freakonomics too.  And I agree, a rose by any other name DOES smell sweet.  But the part that's missing is that fact that because it is a rose, you DO call it a rose, no matter what it smells like.  And if it's a dandelion, you call it a dandelion.  

Does the name ITSELF matter?  Not as much.  People still WILL be judged by their names, though.  And part of the book's point is that maybe it's even fair judge based on names.  Parents pass on intelligence (high or low) through their genes and their values (good or bad) through their parenting.  So, on the extreme end, names like Jazzmen, Belverly, Ashly, Destanie, Heaven, Beauty (obvious misspellings of "normal" names or just picking positive-sounding, though random words) or just someone who has a nickname as an official name (Abby instead of Abigail, Billy instead of William)... you're probably looking at a parent who didn't even bother to carefully pick a dignified name.  If the parent doesn't care to even pick the name carefully, their research has shown that a similar lack of attention to detail carries over into all of their parenting.  Not to mention that the poor child has also inherited those don't-care and lower-intelligence genes to match the unfortunate name.  So, conveniently, dandelion parents give their children dandelion genes, dandelion amounts of attention and values, dandelion stressing of education, dandelion work ethic, and may even actually name them Dandelion.  Or Dandilyon.  Or Dandilleon.

The higher-educated the parents and/or the more intelligent and/or the wealthier... the more the parent is going to focus on EVERY part of the parenting process.  Including the name.  That's why names are recycled in a top-down sort of way.  The upper classes tend to want to pick names that are original, that have some significance or meaning, that mark the child as an individual and unique.  They pore over name-meaning books, they pick the names of obscure goddesses the under-educated have never heard of, they name children after characters in dense tomes of literature, etc.  When the lower-educated people (but the ones who are above the level of just making up wacky stuff) start to use the upper-end names a lot, the wealthier/more educated/smarter folks stop using the now-common names and look for new ones or dig up very very old ones (vintage).

THE WHOLE POINT:  Does your NAME make any difference?  In and of itself, no.  But generally (noting that there are plenty of exceptions), you can tell a lot about a person by their name.  If their given name is a nickname, is a made-up name, is a sad misspelling of a common name, or is "dandelion" in any other way, you can at least assume that this person had dandelion parents and dandelion raising, which are difficult obstacles to overcome.

And if you are a rose, you definitely want to make sure you give your child a rose name.  Personally, I put a lot of careful thought into just picking my pets' names.  I don't understand and even pity the people who pick the first name that sounds pretty or even (horror of horrors) *amusing* to them.  And if you read all the way through this, you don't either.  The point isn't so much in WHAT name you choose, but in that fact that if you're choosing carefully, you WON'T pick a completely stupid one.  Which means you're the sort of person that passed on reasonable-intelligence genes.  And also means you'll be focusing on other aspects of the parenting.

And yes, I do judge people based on their names.  I do alter my opinions easily and readily when deserved.  But honestly, if my parents had named me something that sounded like a drunken joke, I WOULD legally change it to something respectable.

Answer 12

No not at all, most of the one's I like best out of these names are off the "low education parents" and I'm certainly not low educated.