We talk about naming all the time in domaining, an article on Mic.com talked about the topic of names as it pertains to your first name, and how it can affect your entire life.
From whether or not a weird names affects your chances at success to whether it may lead to being racially profiled. Included in one study was the effect your name had on getting into Oxford University. If your name is Eleanor you got a good chance, if your name is Shane, you got 0 chance according to the study.
From the article:
Does a weird name damage your chances of success? NYU sociologist Dalton Conley says that children with unusual names may learn impulse control from being teased or interrogated about their names, saying that “they actually benefit from that experience by learning to control their emotions or their impulses, which is of course a great skill for success.” But he also says any effect would be very small and basically amount to the effect of being raised by parents who would choose unusual names.
Read the full article on Mic.com
My observation is that people with last names that could also be first names have a better chance of being successful. This includes first names with a “s” added like Roberts. Seems to be it works well for politicians.
Little chance of Oxford for me? Nuts! 😉
No question that it affects your life hugely. So parents and soon to be parents – be careful how you name your children, because they are the ones who are going to have to live and deal with the consequences.
And if they don’t “succeed” because of it, then you too, parents, may indirectly experience those consequences as well.