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Is your name important to your success? Would you be a better lawyer if you were called Kelly instead of Susan?

Researchers in Australia think that your name has an influence on your success in life.. Not only that but they suggest that women with masculine names do better than those with feminine ones.

Do you think this is possible? or even plausible?

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/boys-names-better-for-girls-20091027-hih6.html
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windowshop...
Marked as Best! October 29, 2009 12:39 AM
I have a given name which can be either male or female. It wasn't done with any plan or purpose of propelling me to be more successful. It happened to be the only name my parents could agree on for a girl child. I believe it is coincidence that I chose a major in college which was male-dominated, leading to a career which is male-dominated. I went to an engineering college with a 10:1 ratio of men to women (at least at the time I went). Many of the other women who attended when I did had distinctly feminine names (Alice, Mary, Rachel, Cathy, Gail, etc). All of them did well in their studies and most went on to distinguished careers in male-dominated fields of endeavor.

As for children given names which are distinctly opposite from their gender, I think that they either overcome and flourish or they become antisocial. For example, Anne Rice had a given birth name of Howard Allen O'Brien and John Wayne had a given birth name of Marion Robert Morrison.

I believe that we are successful more because of our attitudes and abilities than our names, in most cases. (Although having famous parents doesn't hurt). Shakespeare had it right, I think: "What's in a name? that which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet."
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thebandit
thebandit
October 28, 2009 10:05 PM
I've seen this study before, and I really don't buy it. This entire line of thinking, in fact, has always irritated me. It devalues the female name because it's associated with femininity. How many boys, for instance, do you see given female names? Not many, and when they do, it's seen as a profound source of shame (think "A Boy Named Sue".) Even people who say they're naming their child to be gender-neutral often hesitate if you ask them to name a son Emily, for instance.

Instead of rushing to name girls with boy's names, then, people should instead question exactly why these perceptions exist, and just what problems they might present. This study shouldn't even have to exist.
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