Steven Dubner - Freakonomics

Fryer Jr., while discussing his names research on a radio show, took a call from a black woman who was upset with the name just given to her baby niece. It was pronounced shuh-TEED but was in fact spelled “Shithead.” Or consider the twin boys OrangeJello and LemonJello, also black, whose parents further dignified their choice by instituting the pronunciations a-RON-zhello and le-MON-zhello.

OrangeJello, LemonJello, and Shithead have yet to catch on among the masses, but other names do. How does a name migrate through the population, and why? Is it purely a matter of zeitgeist, or is there some sensible explanation? We all know that names rise and fall and rise—witness the return of Sophie and Max from near extinction—but is there a discernible pattern to these movements?

The answer lies in the California data, and the answer is yes.

Among the most interesting revelations in the data is the correlation between a baby’s name and the parent’s socioeconomic status. Consider the most common female names found in middle-income white households versus low-income white households. (These and other lists to follow include data from the 1990s alone, to ensure a large sample that is also current.) Most Common Middle-Income White Girl Names

1. Sarah

2. Emily

3. Jessica

4. Lauren

5. Ashley

6. Amanda

7. Megan

8. Samantha

9. Hannah

10. Rachel

11. Nicole

12. Taylor

13. Elizabeth

14. Katherine

15. Madison

16. Jennifer

17. Alexandra

18. Brittany

19. Danielle

20. Rebecca

Most Common Low-Income White Girl Names

1. Ashley

2. Jessica

3. Amanda

4. Samantha

5. Brittany

6. Sarah

7. Kayla

8. Amber

9. Megan

10. Taylor

11. Emily

12. Nicole

13. Elizabeth

14. Heather

15. Alyssa

16. Stephanie

17. Jennifer

18. Hannah

19. Courtney

20. Rebecca

There is considerable overlap, to be sure. But keep in mind that these are the most common names of all, and consider the size of the data set. The difference between consecutive positions on these lists may represent several hundred or even several thousand children. So if Brittany is number five on the low-income list and number eighteen on the middle-income list, you can be assured that Brittany is a decidedly low-end name. Other examples are even more pronounced. Five names in each category don’t appear at all in the other category’s top twenty. Here are the top five names among high-end and low-end families, in order of their relative disparity with the other category: Most Common High-End White Girl Names

1. Alexandra

2. Lauren

3. Katherine

4. Madison

5. Rachel

Most Common Low-End White Girl Names

1. Amber

2. Heather

3. Kayla

4. Stephanie

5. Alyssa

And for the boys:

Most Common High-End White Boy Names

1. Benjamin

2. Samuel

3. Jonathan

4. Alexander

5. Andrew

Most Common Low-End White Boy Names

1. Cody

2. Brandon

3. Anthony

4. Justin

5. Robert

Considering the relationship between income and names, and given the fact that income and education are strongly correlated, it is not surprising to find a similarly strong link between the parents’ level of education and the name they give their baby. Once again drawing from the pool of most common names among white children, here are the top picks of highly educated parents versus those with the least education:

Most Common White Girl Names Among High-Education Parents 1. Katherine

2. Emma

3. Alexandra

4. Julia

5. Rachel

Most Common White Girl Names Among Low-Education Parents 1. Kayla

2. Amber

3. Heather

4. Brittany

5. Brianna

Most Common White Boy Names Among High-Education Parents 1. Benjamin

2. Samuel

3. Alexander

4. John

5. William

Most Common White Boy Names Among Low-Education Parents 1. Cody

2. Travis

3. Brandon

4. Justin

5. Tyler

The effect is even more pronounced when the sample is widened beyond the most common names. Drawing from the entire California database, here are the names that signify the most poorly educated white parents.

The Twenty White Girl Names

That Best Signify Low-Education Parents*

(Average number of years of mother’s education in parentheses) 1. Angel (11.38)

2. Heaven (11.46)

3. Misty (11.61)

4. Destiny (11.66)

5. Brenda (11.71)

6. Tabatha (11.81)

7. Bobbie (11.87)

8. Brandy (11.89)

9. Destinee (11.91)

10. Cindy (11.92)

11. Jazmine (11.94)

12. Shyanne (11.96)

13. Britany (12.05)

14. Mercedes (12.06)

15. Tiffanie (12.08)

16. Ashly (12.11)

17. Tonya (12.13)

18. Crystal (12.15)

19. Brandie (12.16)

20. Brandi (12.17)

If you or someone you love is named Cindy or Brenda and is over, say, forty, and feels that those names did not formerly connote a low-education family, you are right. These names, like many others, have shifted hard and fast of late. Some of the other low-education names are obviously misspellings, whether intentional or not, of more standard names. In most cases the standard spellings of the names—Tabitha, Cheyenne, Tiffany, Brittany, and Jasmine—also signify low education. But the various spellings of even one name can reveal a strong disparity:

Ten “Jasmines” in Ascending Order of Maternal Education (Years of mother’s education in parentheses)

1. Jazmine (11.94)

2. Jazmyne (12.08)

3. Jazzmin (12.14)

4. Jazzmine (12.16)

5. Jasmyne (12.18)

6. Jasmina (12.50)

7. Jazmyn (12.77)

8. Jasmine (12.88)

9. Jasmin (13.12)

10. Jasmyn (13.23)

Here is the list of low-education white boy names. It includes the occasional misspelling (Micheal and Tylor), but more common is the nickname-as-proper-name trend.

The Twenty White Boy Names

That Best Signify Low-Education Parents*

(Years of mother’s education in parentheses)

1. Ricky (11.55)

2. Joey (11.65)

3. Jessie (11.66)

4. Jimmy (11.66)

5. Billy (11.69)

6. Bobby (11.74)

7. Johnny (11.75)

8. Larry (11.80)

9. Edgar (11.81)

10. Steve (11.84)

11. Tommy (11.89)

12. Tony (11.96)

13. Micheal (11.98)

14. Ronnie (12.03)

15. Randy (12.07)

16. Jerry (12.08)

17. Tylor (12.14)

18. Terry (12.15)

19. Danny (12.17)

20. Harley (12.22)

Now for the names that signify the highest level of parental education. These names don’t have much in common, phonetically or aesthetically, with the low-education names. The girls’ names are in most regards diverse, though with a fair share of literary and otherwise artful touches. A caution to prospective parents who are shopping for a “smart” name: remember that such a name won’t make your child smart; it will, however, give her the same name as other smart kids—at least for a while. (For a much longer and more varied list of girls’ and boys’ names, see p. 227)

The Twenty White Girl Names

That Best Signify High-Education Parents*

(Years of mother’s education in parentheses)

1. Lucienne (16.60)

2. Marie-Claire (16.50)

3. Glynnis (16.40)

4. Adair (16.36)

5. Meira (16.27)

6. Beatrix (16.26)

7. Clementine (16.23)

8. Philippa (16.21)

9. Aviva (16.18)

10. Flannery (16.10)

11. Rotem (16.08)

12. Oona (16.00)

13. Atara (16.00)

14. Linden (15.94)

15. Waverly (15.93)

16. Zofia (15.88)

17. Pascale (15.82)

18. Eleanora (15.80)

19. Elika (15.80)

20. Neeka (15.77)

Now for the boys’ names that are turning up these days in high-education households. This list is particularly heavy on the Hebrew, with a noticeable trend toward Irish traditionalism.

The Twenty White Boy Names

That Best Signify High-Education Parents*

Years of mother’s education in parentheses)

1. Dov (16.50)

2. Akiva (16.42)

3. Sander (16.29)

4. Yannick (16.20)

5. Sacha (16.18)

6. Guillaume (16.17)

7. Elon (16.16)

8. Ansel (16.14)

9. Yonah (16.14)

10. Tor (16.13)

11. Finnegan (16.13)

12. MacGregor (16.10)

13. Florian (15.94)

14. Zev (15.92)

15. Beckett (15.91)

16. Kia (15.90)

17. Ashkon (15.84)

18. Harper (15.83)

19. Sumner (15.77)

20. Calder (15.75)

If many names on the above lists were unfamiliar to you, don’t feel bad. Even boys’ names—which have always been scarcer than girls’—have been proliferating wildly. This means that even the most popular names today are less popular than they used to be. Consider the ten most popular names given to black baby boys in California in 1990 and then in 2000. The top ten in 1990

includes 3,375 babies (18.7 percent of those born that year), while the top ten in 2000 includes only 2,115 (14.6 percent of those born that year).

Most Popular Black Boy Names

(Number of occurrences in parentheses)

1990 2000

1. Michael (532)

1. Isaiah (308)

2. Christopher (531)

2. Jordan (267)

3. Anthony (395)

3. Elijah (262)

4. Brandon (323)

4. Michael (235)

5. James (303)

5. Joshua (218)

6. Joshua (301)

6. Anthony (208)

7. Robert (276)

7. Christopher (169)

8. David (243)

8. Jalen (159)

9. Kevin (240)

9. Brandon (148)

10. Justin (231)

10. Justin (141)

In the space of ten years, even the most popular name among black baby boys (532 occurrences for Michael) became far less popular (308 occurrences for Isaiah). So parents are plainly getting more diverse with names. But there’s another noteworthy shift in these lists: a very quick rate of turnover. Note that four of the 1990 names (James, Robert, David, and Kevin) fell out of the top ten by 2000. Granted, they made up the bottom half of the 1990 list. But the names that replaced them in 2000 weren’t bottom dwellers. Three of the new names—

Isaiah, Jordan, and Elijah—were in fact numbers one, two, and three in 2000. For an even more drastic example of how quickly and thoroughly a name can cycle in and out of use, consider the ten most popular names given to white girls in California in 1960 and then in 2000.

Most Popular White Girl Names

1960 2000

1. Susan

1. Emily

2. Lisa

2. Hannah

3. Karen

3. Madison

4. Mary

4. Sarah

5. Cynthia

5. Samantha

6. Deborah

6. Lauren

7. Linda

7. Ashley

8. Patricia

8. Emma

9. Debra

9. Taylor

10. Sandra

10. Megan

Not a single name from 1960 remains in the top ten. But, you say, it’s hard to stay popular for forty years. So how about comparing today’s most popular names with the top ten from only twenty years earlier?

Most Popular White Girl Names

1980 2000

1. Jennifer

1. Emily

2. Sarah

2. Hannah

3. Melissa

3. Madison

4. Jessica

4. Sarah

5. Christina

5. Samantha

6. Amanda

6. Lauren

7. Nicole

7. Ashley

8. Michelle

8. Emma

9. Heather

9. Taylor

10. Amber

10. Megan

A single holdover: Sarah. So where do these Emilys and Emmas and Laurens all come from? Where on earth did Madison come from? It’s easy enough to see that new names become very popular very fast—but why?

Let’s take another look at a pair of earlier lists. Here are the most popular names given to baby girls in the 1990s among low-income families and among families of middle income or higher.