Did I Screw Up When I Named My Son?

Jennifer Walker-Journey — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:11:43 +0000

I’m guilty as the next person of scouring the bookshelves for a clever name for my child. My husband’s only request is that the name not be made up, which meant I had to find proof that someone of some worth had been named Piper (voted down because my husband had a stuffed rabbit named Piper) and Baylor (voted down again because Rick said we had no ties to the school). We did agree on an old-school name for our son, Truman. And as you’d probably expect, both friends and family winced when we announced the name we intended to give our son.

I never let those comments sway me. But I will admit that I squinted my eyes when I read the the Top 10 “bad boy”names, according to Shippensburg University professor David Kalist. Published recently in Social Science Quarterly, Kalist suggests giving newborn males oddball, girly or strange first names may set them up for a future as a criminal.

Truman’s name was not on the list. The top 10, in alphabetical order, are Alec, Ernest, Garland, Ivan, Kareem, Luke, Malcolm, Preston, Tyrell and Walter. The list is based on 15,000 names given to baby boys between 1987 and 1991. Researchers discovered that unpopular names are not necessarily the reason why a child may grow up to live a life a crime, however odd names “increase the tendency toward juvenile delinquency.”

The top 10 list raised some interest on TODAY, with Erin Burnett theorizing “Basically, if you’re teased mercilessly your entire childhood for your name, you become an angry, bitter person, and you lash out in a way that could be negative.”