Name is Destiny

I keep on postponing reading Das Kapital for grad school, so I ended up reading Freakonomics instead. Unlike Malcolm Gladwell, I don’t find it “dazzling”, but definitely, there are fascinating parts, especially Chapter 6: Would a Roshanda by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet? Levitt posits an issue – “Does the name you give your child affect his life? Or is your life reflected in his name?” Levitt concluded the chapter by saying “An overwhelming number of parents use a name to signal their own expectations of how successful their children will be. The name isn’t likely to make a shard of difference. But the parents can at least feel better knowing that, from the very outset, they tried their best.” Last sem, I had a student named Swastika. She did well in class and she doesn't look like she has issues with her name. Actually, she has a second name, Julienne, but for some reason, she still opts to use Swastika. I don't know what her parents were thinking, naming a pretty and docile girl Swastika, but as long as it doesn't bother her, I don't think it should bother me. I can't really blame parents for their poor judgment on kids' names. Good thing having kids is not in my "things to do before I die list", since I was thinking of naming my child Slavoj Althusser or Amartya Skocpol.

But going back to the book, what’s more interesting in the chapter is the raw data presented. Below are some names falling under interesting categories:

Most Common Middle-Income White Girl Names
Sarah
Emily
Jessica
Lauren
Ashley
Amanda
Megan
Samantha
Hannah
Rachel
Nicole (Why am I not surprised? After all, nahiritan na ako ng “oh, so this is where the middle class lives”)
Taylor

Most Common Low-Income White Girl Names
Ashley
Jessica
Amanda
Samantha
Brittany

Most Common High-End White Girl Names
Alexandra
Lauren
Katherine
Madison
Rachel
I don’t think an Alexandra or a Lauren can ever live in the slums

Most Common High-End White Boy Names
Benjamin
Samuel
Jonathan (Talaga lang, ha? ;p)
Alexander
Andrew

Most Common Low-End Boy Names
Cody
Brandon
Anthony
Justin
Robert

White Girl Names That Best Signify High-Education Parents
(Years of mother’s education in parenthesis)
Lucienne (16.60)
Marie-Claire (16.50)
Glynnis (16.40)
Adair (16.36)
Meira (16.27)
Where the hell did these women study?!?

White Boy Names that Best Signify High-Education Parents
Dov (16.50)
Akiva (16.42)
Sander (16.29)
Yannick (16.20)
Sacha (16.18)
Again, where the hell did these women study?!?

But the twenimilyen peso question is: How about Jewellord?