"Babies' Names Reveal Parents' Political Leanings"

[mrsklamc]

When two of my friends had a child, the only thing they wanted to do when naming their daughter was to avoid the "Wal-Mart rule of naming" where both first and middle name all become one name. "Betty Lou" and "Sue Ellen" come to mind..

This is quite common in the south, very poor to very rich, so not sure how Walmart is a factor.

 

[marcyinPA]

My DH and I are conservative and well-educated, and our boys have Biblical names.

 

[Christine]

Hmmm...when I named both of my children I was firmly entrenched in one party. I now identify with another party.

My kids names, if anything, *lean* toward being maaaaybe trendy but there not really. They aren't traditional either.

Maybe that explains it perfectly: middle of the road.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My DH and I are conservative and well-educated, and our boys have Biblical names.

I was wondering when that would be mentioned along with ethnicities.

 

[yoopermom]

I think it's more regional than anything else. As someone else has mentioned, people in the south tend to use two word names for girls that run together. Up here in the great north, there are tons of boys named "Hunter" (my DH wanted this or Remington). I love watching rodeo on tv and seeing what I think of as the "out west" names on the bullriders, they're great! We have friends that are huge nascar friends and their boys are all named after great drivers, etc.

Terri

 

[georgina]

Disagree with the article. We and many of our liberal friends have kids with traditional names.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Is it me or is obscure and uncommon pretty much the same thing

To me an obscure name is one that's uncommon over a long period of time, where as an uncommon name is one that's just uncommon now.

For example, I love the Amharic name Hiyab. In this country I'd consider this name obscure. Many Americans may have never met someone named Hiyab, or even know that Hiyab is a name that exists. It's obscure and uncommon.

On the other hand, there are currently very few babies being named Alfred, but because many people grew up with grandfathers named Alfred, and have read the poetry of Alfred Tennyson, and have other associations with Alfred, it's not obscure. If you said to most Americans "Did you know there is such a name as Alfred?" they'd say "Of course". Alfred is uncommon.

I'm pretty well educated (1.5 graduate degrees), and on the left wing of American politics. My kid has a super common name with a long history, although one that has recently become more popular. Think Alexander or Matthew for names with similar popularity levels and levels of history.

 

[Hrhpd]

I love baby names & all the different baby-naming trends, so I found this article interesting.

http://http://t.living.msn.com/family-parenting/baby-names-reveal-parents%e2%80%99-politics

From the article:



I'm not sure whether or not I agree w/ this finding or not - because I know both conservatives & liberals, & their kids' names don't stay within this pattern. However, I have to admit, DH & I are both college-educated & do tend to be more politically conservative, & our 3 kids all have classic, traditional names.

So, where do your kids' names fall on the political spectrum?

DH and I could be considered the Liberal semi-elite. Both well educated, good jobs, about as liberal as you can get.

Our childrens' names are about as classic and traditional as you can get.

Maybe we are closet conservatives. NAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[Lilliputian]

We're conservatives with Bible names for all our children. We do try to use Bible names that everyone has heard of before but aren't quite as common right now, like Simon and Nicholas. We do have one who ended up with the most common boy's name that year, though.

 

[fairestoneofall]

we are conservative. we both have college degrees (DH has his MBA). our children have classic names, but i wouldn't call them traditional. because DH and i have very popular names (Emily and Michael), we did not want to use popular names for any of our kids. so, our kids' names aren't really common, but i'd say they are classic/literary/old-fashioned.

for example, DD's name is Adeline, which is certainly a classic name, but not one i'd consider popular or traditional (in the sense as it is used a lot).

 

[minkydog]

We're conservative and we names our kids traditional names. The other conservatives in my family also used traditional names. The liberals all named their kids unusual names, some of them made up.

 

[TinkerBelled]

Anecdotally, this is bunk. Very traditional names, amongst my friends, are common on both sides of the political spectrum

For those who don't use traditional names, the split seems cultural. Many of my conservative friends from high school have names that always seem to be on the top 20 lists: Madison, Aidan, Ethan, etc. Many of my more liberal friends from undergrad/grad pick unusual, ultra-traditional names: Milo, Imogen, Maisie, etc.

 

[Colleen27]

I think income and education have more to do with it than political leaning, and if anything this report is just a different slant on the well documented correlation between education and a more liberal worldview.

I'm not sure where my kids would fit in. Two were inspired by literary characters, one from classic literature and one from a mass market work, but both are also very traditional names that aren't super popular these days but aren't rare or unheard of either. The third is a Hebrew name which is entirely out of left field as I am neither Jewish nor Christian, but when I heard it - can't even remember where now - I just loved it. I'm about as liberal as it gets and DH is slightly left of center.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We used one obscure name and one (mostly) common and consider ourselves independent/moderate.

 

[NotUrsula]

Ethnicity counts, too. DH & I are very well educated and quite liberal, but we are both first-gen Americans, and our children have ethnic names. (They are traditional in our families' home countries, but not in the US.)

 

[skatalite]

We named our son a phrase, to mix things up.

His name is Ladies and Gentlemen. It's a cool name for a kid. "This is my son, Ladies and Gentlemen." Then, when he gets out of hand, I get to go, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please!"

(Bonus points for the person who guesses the comedian I quoted.)

 

[emer95]

My husband and I are highly educated, and ultra-conservative. One of our daughters has a very classic name. The other one is fairly uncommon, but she has a "real" name. It's not made up or uniquely spelled. If we lived in Ireland she might find her name in a keychain, but never here in the US! I think they have the most beautiful names in the world.

 

[topolino]

I have a Master's degree and lean just to the right of center. DW has a Bachelor's and leans a little further to the right than I do, but is still close to the center. We have no kids, but if we did we'd give them traditional names, though they'd be considered somewhat rare in this country (USA).

 

[akcire]

Politics didn't influence my choice for my daughters name. I wanted a common name common spelling for her. At least twice every day I have to spell both my first and last name. It becomes annoying at best. If you speak English at any level you can spell her name. She'll still have to spell her last name but I tried. She has plenty of personality and individualism. Her plain name will serve her just fine.

If the world were perfect I'd name a girl Solveig and a boy Lark, but that's just no in the cards.

 

[JenCin78]

Educated liberals over here...both children have very traditional, classic names with one of them being on the top 10 list for the past few years.