Boys With Unpopular Names “More Likely to Become Criminals”
So here’s some more mom guilt for you. Baby boys with uncommon or unpopular names are more likely to commit crimes as teenagers and young adults.
Researchers from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania compared the names of juvenile male delinquents to male names in the general population.
They concluded that boys with common names like Micheal, Robert and Brandon are less likely to commit crimes. Boys with unusual names that are not very common – they cite Ernest and Ivan, Kareem and Malcolm as examples – are more likely to break the law.
So how do they think that names cause boys to become criminals? Well, they say that the names don’t cause crime, but rather speculate that parents whose children are more likely to become criminals are more likely to give their child an unusual name. “They [uncommon names] are connected to factors that increase the tendency to commit crime, such as a disadvantaged home environment, residence in a county with low socioeconomic status, and households run by one parent“.
Does this seem slightly snobbish to you? Single moms and poor people give their kids odd names?
(Aside: According to Rum and Monkey’s White Trash Name Generator, my white trash name is Britney Jo Chickensworth and my son is Walden McTrailer. You can find yours here!)
The researchers also suggest that children with uncommon names are more likely to be teased by other children and the emotional damage may predispose them to commit crimes. That’s hardly a flawless argument too – I went to school with a kid called David who was mercilessly teased for having freckles, a Richard who was teased for being tall, and another kid called Micheal who was picked on for… I really have no idea why. Names are one of about a million reasons why a child would be teased at school.
And of course, naming your child something unusual is not a guarantee of a life of crime or a impossible barrier to success – consider Donald Trump, Keanu Reeves, Tiger Woods and Barack Obama.
Unusual names are becoming more popular than ever. New parents either seem to pick something classic from the current top ten, or are at the opposite end of the spectrum and choose something unusual. In 18 years time, half of the babies who are now teenagers will have an unusual name and are they are all going to be criminals? I don’t imagine so.
Do you think giving your child an unusual name is a hinderance, or does it make no difference?
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