What’s in a name
Many parents say raising a child is stressful and hard. Most parents also say that the stress begins when choosing the baby’s name. This is understandable seeing that you are making a decision that will affect someone else’s entire life, or will it? Something I have always wondered is: does your first name affect who you are? The simple answer is not really, however, it does tell you a few things.
Of course, your name can often tell you about your ethnic background. For example, someone names Mohammad is most likely Muslim. Your name may not say anything about your personality but it does say something about the person who chose it.
There is a sleight correlation between people with uncommon, new and ill-advised names and poverty. In the video, the example of a girl called Temptress was given. The narrator argued that it has nothing to do with the name of the person but he believes that if the parents are in a situation where they want to call their child something ludicrous, the parent will have their own issues which will affect the child’s life. To reiterate, it is not the name itself, but the guardian who believes it is ok to name their child, that is causing harm when raising their child.
As well as that, studies have shown that if you have an older, more traditional name, then your parents are more likely to be conservative people. An article written by Jenna Goudreau states facts about names that surprised and fascinated me. For example, if you have a common name, you’re more likely to be hired and that women with gender neutral names are more likely to succeed. These baffled me because ability and name have no correlation. There is no such thing as a stupid or clever name (even though if you initial your middle name, people assume you are academic) so how can these judgements be made.
The prior fact from this article is just due to human laziness. People with common, short names are easier to remember. As well as this, common names connote being ‘normal’ so they are seen as less of a risky hire. The second fact (about woman with gender neutral names) is even more worrying. This is due to sexism in the work place. A study has shows that woman in law and engineering (male dominant careers) are more likely to succeed with masculine names. This could be due to phone calls or resumes, in which their names are only displayed. Whatever the reason, it baffles me that this fact is true.
My legal name is Joseph, although I have only ever been called Joe. Joseph is a biblical name which was suitable for me seeing that I am a religious Jew. However, I am purely named Joe because my parents liked the name. On the other hand, my middle name is Jack. Jack was my fathers great uncle who passed away a few months before I was born. Incidentally, as I have grown up I have shown that I share many passions with my great great uncle like table tennis and maths.
Overall, your name is not going to change who you are and it says more about your parents than you. However, try and make your name mean something. When I die, I want ‘Joe’ to be a name of success and happiness.
