Names do matter, so most parents choose carefully. But if you're tempted to saddle your child with a funny name to get a laugh, first read the "Boys Named Sue: Disruptive Children and Their Peers" report.
What it says is true. Children with foolish names become the blowflies. If this American report is correct, they are much more likely to end up in jail!
The "Whitened Résumés: Race and Self-Presentation in the Labor Market" report from the Cornell SCJohnson College of Business talks about how racial minorities in America "whiten" their names when applying for a job.
In Australia, my school experience tells me that many children would be wise to "normalise" their names on résumés. I'm referring to spellings, where the parent was clearly so excited when naming their baby that a few extra letters or syllables were added.
Incorrect spellings of normal names can become a lifetime burden, too. "My name's John, spelt Jhon." LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network, declares that Deborah and Peter are the top names for CEOs. Their data also shows that short names dominate certain fields. For instance, CEOs in the United States often have four letter names.
Top executive male names in the US are Peter, Bob, Jack, Bruce, and Fred! Birth certificates would quote their full name, but shortened versions are a way "to be more approachable and accessible to potential clients".
Female executives have names that are only slightly longer. Top names are Deborah, Sally, Debra, Cynthia, Carolyn.
Top salesmen have shorter names like Chip, Todd and Trey (remember, this is American data) but engineers have longer names like Rajesh, Jeremy and Andrew. "U.S. professionals in the food and restaurant industry tend to have longer French names like Thierry, Philippe and Laurent," LinkedIn says, so should you choose an exotic name for your future MasterChef?
That short summary about names is the preamble to LinkedIn's advice for building your profile - the right name could help your child's professional life.
So what were the most popular Australian baby names in 2020? The McCrindle report is an authorative study that will tell you a lot about how names become popular. "At McCrindle, we collate this data from the respective states and territories, analyse it, and uncover the nation-wide trends."
Top boys' names for 2020 were Oliver, Noah, Jack, William, and Leo. Top girls' names were Charlotte, Olivia, Amelia, Isla and Mia.
These children are in the middle of Generation Alpha, "the current generation of children who began being born in the year 2010. They are the children of the Millennials, and often the younger siblings of Generation Z. There are 3 million of them in Australia ... When they have all been born (2025) they will number almost 2 billion - the largest generation in the history of the world", the McCrindle report says.
CJ Dennis would be disappointed that Bill and Doreen didn't make the list, but of course William is often shortened to Bill, and "Billy" came in at Number 100. Doreen missed out entirely!
And Keith? I had to look to other sources to find that its popularity waned in the 1950s.
