America elected a new president on Tuesday. Perhaps you heard? Obama's triumph was the world's huge news story, but across the country many thousands more candidates were voted in and out of local offices. My ballot including a plethora of races for positions like Register of Probate and Regional Vocational School District. I'm sure I'm not the only reasonably well-informed voter who sometimes stares down at a list of local candidates and thinks "Uh-oh. These are just random names to me."
An election of random names. Interesting, eh? For all of the attention that's been paid to Barack Hussein Obama's name, the fact is that a presidential candidate becomes so well known by the public that his name alone can't define him. But in local elections, especially elections for large slates of jobs, a typical voter is often asked to chose among a group of people knowing little but their names. If name-based discrimination really exists, could this be a place we'd spot it?
In fact, the Houston Chronicle thinks they might have spotted some. An article in this morning's paper describes a curious electoral pattern in Harris County, Texas. Harris County voters had over a hundred local races to decide, including 32 separate District Judge contests. We can't expect a typical voter in that situation to be genuinely familiar with all of the hundreds of candidates. So all many had to go on was name and party affiliation. Not surprisingly, party affiliation dominated: a wave of straight-party Democratic voting swept most of the 32 District Judge races. Most, but not all. The Chronicle reports speculation that the four Democratic candidates who lost were brought down by their "unusual names." They were:
Ashish Mahendru
Mekisha Murray
Andres Pereira
Goodwille Pierre
Judging by surnames like Murray and Pierre, we can safely assume they're talking about unusual first names. And judging by the first name Andres, we can safely assume that "unusual" is a big, whopping euphemism. (A look at the NameMapper will show you that the familiar Spanish name Andres has ranked among the top-100 names in Texas for years.) So instead of "unusual," let's just be upfront and say "non-white." Meanwhile the winning candidates in those contests were named Sharon, Mark, Patricia and Joseph.
Keep in mind that most of the judicial races were decided by just a few percentage points. With only two factors to judge by, name and party, it's certainly conceivable that names could have influenced just enough voters to sway those races. But before drawing any conclusions we should look at the full body of candidates running for all 32 jobs. I've reviewed the full Harris County judicial election results; here are the names of the winning Democrats:
Al
Alexandra
Bert
David
Dion
Hazel
Herb
Jaclanel
Jim
Joe
Josefina
Kevin
Kyle
Larry
Leslie
Martin
Mary
Michael
Mike
Mike
R.K.
Randy
Ruben
Robert
Robert
Shawna
Steven
Terri
Of the 28, I see only three names that would typically be identified as non-white: Dion, Josefina, and Ruben. That totals seven non-white given names out of 32 Democrats, with all four losers selected from those seven. What are the chances that selection would happen randomly? By my calculations, less than one chance in a thousand.
Of course, it's just one set of races in one county. I don't pretend to know whether other issues affected those four candidates. But if I were a scholarly researcher trying to isolate real-world effects of baby names, I'd be mighty tempted to take a broader look at "name-only" contests like these across America.
Comments
zoerhenne - Flavia, and the similar Fulvia, are both Italian names, I believe they stem from Latin, and they both mean blonde, light haired, fair...
I used to work with a woman named Fulvia, and her brother's name was Bruno (which means dark, dark-haired). I asked if her parents gave them the themed names on pupose, and she didn't think so - they just liked the names. :-)
I learned in reading the president-elect's biography that as a child he was known as Barry - would Barry Obama have made drawn as much attention politically?
And welcome to my friend's new daughter Martha. He wanted a name that was not popular, but not so weird that the poor girl would be stuck spelling and pronouncing it the rest of her life. And he did it.
Other names with v's that I don't think have been suggested:
Boys:
Oliver
Sullivan
Harvey
Levi
Calvin
Girls:
Sylvie
Neva
Vivien
Davin: What about Nova?
B-how did none of us think of Levi, with Laura's post on the name just a few weeks ago!
I think he said no Biblical names. So that excludes Levi.
Please think real hard and 6-grade style before you name your darling Fulvia.
I am really liking Verity, Sylvia and Vivian.
Also Sullivan, Oliver and Van.
I know a girl named Wava. Like wav-a goodbye-a.
How do you pronounce Even. Rhyme with steven or heaven?
Uh yeah, I second the no on Fulvia for rhyming too much with a body part.
I went and took the kids to Madagascar 2 tonight. In the credits there was a Vanitha. Interesting thought for Davin I thought. Anyone know more about this unique name?
Vanitha- sounds like someone with a New Zealand accent and a lisp saying Vanessa!
I'm sure these have already been suggested, but my favorite names containing a v are Vera and Genevieve. I also quite like Victoria. Valerie is okay, but seems a little dated.
I think Victor is a great name for a boy, though I would never use it. Vincent was on my short list for boys' names (nn Vincy is adorable for a little one), but alas, I had a girl and never was able to use it.
Typed in "Van" into search for "contains" on babynamesworld.com and came up with Vanita so maybe I remembered it wrong. It says its Indian and means woman. Also on list came up Vanna-anyone want to buy some other letters??
Just want to respectfully remind my fellow name enthusiasts of something before this becomes one of those "bad, America, bad" kinds of venues, that I don't come to a name site for. In every culture, the majority of people tend to go toward the familiar, rather than the unfamiliar. In every culture.
In some cultures/countries, in fact, it can be physically dangerous or fatal to select anything other than a regime-approved "norm"... Thankfully not here, by either law or governance.
By the way, the opinion journal "National Review" doesn't usually provide name fodder for me, but they do love to highlight the farther absurdities of political correctness, so the latest issue reports this:
A couple in Italy tried to name their new child "Venerdi", which means "Friday". Italy's Court of Appeal refused to countenance that, ordering his name to be recorded as "Gregorio".
The court in its infinite wisdom reasoned that the name "Friday" is too associated with "subjection and inferiority" because of "Man Friday", the poor, long-suffering servant in "Robinson Crusoe". Good grief.
Fortunately, the unbowed couple vows to fight on, saying they will name their next child "Mercoledi" (Wednesday).
Judicial issues apart, I do think "Gregorio" is an extremely handsome name! But "Venerdi" and "Mercoledi" are lovely to my ear as well...
I thought European courts had eased up on that paternalistic, "the state knows best when it comes to baby names" thing, but I guess not.
Eo, I agree, it is nice to have the freedom, both politically and socially to name our children anything we want. Gregorio is an awesome name. I had a dream last night that I named one of the twins Gregory...
Davin, I am totally taken with Vica as a nickname for Victoria. I heard it on a young Russian girl recently and loved it. It was pronounced VEEK-a.
I also like Victor and Dov for a boy.
Re: possible racism by name in local political races.
I live in San Diego. We had several races for "San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees." I generally do try to research these people a bit (look at their webpages to try to avoid anyone who sounds crazy), but I can't imagine that most people put much thought into their choices other than going by the sound of their names.
Anyway, we had a choice of
"Dwayne Crenshaw" versus "Mary Graham"
Crenshaw was "endorsed by all current trustees; the San Diego County Democratic Party; San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council; and the American Federation of Teachers." He was ALSO endorsed by our conservative local newspaper, the San Diego Union Tribune. (They endorsed McCain/Palin, too). So, clearly Crenshaw had BROAD support, but he lost 57% to 43%. I do think that his name is identifiably African American, and our city is only about 6% African American. I do suspect that it could be related.
Changing gears, when I went to the movies last night I saw a preview (I know most call them trailers, but trailers imo come at the end!) Anyway, it was for the movie Monsters vs. Aliens. It's kind of a spoof of the monster movies some of us grew up with. In it there is a tall monster reminiscent of "The 50 Foot Woman" so one of the other monsters asks her what her name is. She replys "they call me Susan". Now my question-Is this a statement that Susan is some type of universal name, easily translated, or is it because it is an "all-American" name like John or Mary and fits into the spoof idea?
I like Dov in theory but in some communities--and increasingly so--I think it would be negatively associated with Dov Charney, the head of American Apparel being sued for sexual harassment. He was parodied on Saturday Night Live recently. I feel like this association would be stronger on a boy than on a girl. A girl named Dove has different connotations than a boy named Dov. Even if I were to just hear rather than see the name.
Vica is totally cute!
re: Dwayne Crenshaw: It's interesting that the name Crenshaw would be associated with the low-income area too--something that's got nothing at all to do with the man.
zoerhenne: Just based on a brief look at the Monsters vs. Aliens page on IMDb, my guess is that the name Susan was played for humor... that it's funny for some crazy thing like a monster (exotic in a way) has some white bread name...
Eo may have a point about familiarity/unfamiliarity. When I was a kid I used to bet on football teams with my grandfather. I knew nothing about football, so I just picked whichever team had a more appealing name. (Dolphins vs. Steelers? DOLPHINS!) I wasn't even sure what a Steeler was, exactly, but it didn't sound nearly as nice as a dolphin.
So if I were to vote for a judge based on their name (which I would never do -- please, everyone, if you don't know anything about the candidates, leave your choice blank!), and I came across a choice between Jitinder and Helen, my thoughts would probably be like this:
Occasionally I answer a naming poll on BehindTheName.com, and I've found that I tend to skip polls that feature names I'm not familiar with. I can't choose between Jitinder and Brijesh, for example, in the same way that I would choose between Helen and Kaylee, because I have no cultural context for East Indian names.
-Helen: Sounds old-fashioned. I have a dead great aunt named Helen whom I visited in a nursing home. Also reminds me of Helen of Troy. I like this name; it's not excessively girly. I bet someone named Helen would be sober and responsible.
-Jitinder: Uh...sounds like an Indian name.
So if you're going JUST by names, at least in a Helen vs. Kaylee match you'd have two fairly clear pictures in your head about the age, disposition, socioeconomic background, gender, etc. of the two candidates. The pictures might be wrong, but they'd be there. With Jitinder, unless you're familiar with Indian culture, there's just a blank in place of a photo. Likely you're going to go with the person you can at least visualize.
There is an article in the New York Times about new babies named after the Obama family, and Laura is quoted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/us/politics/10babies.html
Alitalia- thanks for the link! Fascinating. I'd always wondered why my father was given the middle name of Franklin in 1934- now I know!
RobynT-Yes, I thought it was probably the humor(spoofing a common John/Mary type name) because I did laugh at that preview. The movie looks hilarious! Btw, if you all haven't seen Madagascar 2 it is also hysterical.
Holey-I think you are correct in your analysis and I agree with you.
Davin - for a "v" name, I really like the sound of the name Solveig, and I don't think anyone has mentioned that yet. I like the spelling Solvei without the "g" even though that is not traditional.
Link to today's NYTimes story about Baracks, Obamas, Malias, Sashas, et al in a little name boom for the First Family-elect.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/us/politics/10babies.html?_r=1&oref=sl...
And our Laura is quoted in it. :-)
Davin--
In Scots, to haver is to rant incoherently. Not too many people would know that, but it might be enough to turn me off the name.
Have you thought about Tove or Tova for a girl? They are both pronounced about the same (TOVE-uh) but have completely different roots. Tove is a pretty common Swedish name, and Tova is Hebrew. I recently met a woman with the Hebrew name, and I think it's lovely.
I'm partial to V's myself, since my name begins with one, but most of the names I like have an initial V, such as Victoria, Valeria, Valerie, Violet, Vivian, Verity, Vashti, Virginie...
Davin - one more v suggestion from me: If you like Ever, what about Everly?
The Times article left me with the nagging question: Will there be more baby Baracks or baby Obamas? My guess is Barack, but it is a stab in the dark.
Thanks to all who weighed in on the polling "A-L" vs. "M-Z". Generally I hate being a W and stuck at the end, but that day it was terrific!
Oh, I heartily second Tova.
I asked my husband what he thought of Even, and he immediately said, "Only if the mn is Steven."
I'm not saying you should care what a non-NE with a sophomoric sense of humor thinks, but I have a feeling this would come up A Lot.
Couple new babes:
Benjamin David
Carson-didn't get the mn
A friend of mine just used a name that I've been keeping on my list for a while. I had some reservations about it -- mainly that it's a bit too frilly for my tastes, since I usually like names for girls that sound stronger and more grounded -- and now, rather than feeling sad about having to cross the name off my list, I actually feel relieved that I finally have a definitive reason not to use the name. Anyone else ever feel this way? The name, by the way, is Annabel.
Given a choice of Penelope or Pascale, which would you pick?
Clementine-I'm sure other posters will disagree because I think it was posted about when it came up on the other thread, but I think Pascale sounds male while Penelope sounds female. Neither are quite my taste.
Off topic a bit...
I need help finding another boys name!! I'm pregnant again and my husband and I are having a heck of a time trying to come up with a boys name that we both like.
Our first born's name is Benjamin, which I love and goes well with our 1 syllable LN.
What we're having a hard time with trying to come up w/ another name that's 3 syllables (but doesn't have to be) and that you can get multiple names out of. eg. Benny when little, Ben as he gets older and Benjamin in business.
Jackson was our back up name the first time, which I still like, but it's way to over used in our area now.
We're also not into the tried and true classics of John, David, Michael, Stephen etc. but at the same time don't want anything that's trendy.
Help please!
Clementine - Pascale is a very French Canadian name to me, common where I live for French Cdn babies. And would be pronounced wrong as well as being gender-uncertain to many people. I love the name Penelope!
Bens Mummy - what about Nicholas or Alexander (4 syllables but otherwise fits)
I like Nicholas, but my husband doesn't and Alexander is Ben's middle name.
I also like Christopher but Chris doesn't work w/ our LN. It's just setting the kid up to be made fun of!
Ben's Mummy- What about Samuel? It's three syllables, shortens to Sam and Sammy, and sounds very cute with Ben.
Other suggestions:
Nathaniel (Nat, Nate)
William (Will, Bill, Billy, Liam)
Thomas (Tom, Tommy)
Theodore (Theo, Teddy)
Oliver (Ollie)
Ben's mummy -- how about Jonathan, Samuel (love this with Benjamin), Gabriel, Zachary, Nathaniel, Oliver, Dominic, Harrison or Timothy?
Clementine- Count me as one vote for Penelope.
Ben's mummy: I'll second much of what others have suggested, especially Zachary and Theodore.
Here are some others that are hopefully a match style-wise, each with possible nicknames:
Jeremy
Joshua
Julian
Maxwell
Elliot
Elijah
Gregory
Cameron
Let us know what you decide!
Ben's Mummy-I second Samuel and Timothy.
If you're after something more contemporary, how about Jacoby (Coby, Jake) or Jamison (Jamie, Jim)?
Clementine-I haven't had that exact experience, but I pretty much share your thoughts on Annabel/Annabelle. On the one hand, I think it's absolutely adorable. On the other hand, I wonder if I'd find it too precious irl. Then there is the glut of Annas and Belles....
I feel sort of the same about Penelope!
As others have said, I have a hard time thinking of Pascale as anything but a French boy's name. Here in the states, though, it would probably work better on a girl. I know a recent poster was considering it as a girl's mn, which I think would be fine.
I do know of one couple who was planning on using Penelope if they adopted again. They have an older son named Henry, but he is called Hank exclusively.
The one Annabel I know of irl has sisters named Brianna and Lyndzie. I always thought that was an odd mix.
I love Penelope. Sadly, I shall never have one.
I think Sebastian goes nicely with Ben.
Thanks for all of the suggestions! I'll have to go over them w/ my husband and see what he thinks.
How about Benjaman and Theodore? There's Teddy, Theo and Ted for evolvingly older nicknames. The name is surprisingly underused.
Davin:
Here's a few name suggestions I think haven't been said yet.
Evannie, Avana, Evanthe, Jove, Tayva, Vanje, Valyn, Verona, Sevrin for girls
Sevren, Davies, Tavish, and Iver for boys
I once met an African man (sorry, don't know what country) named "Goodluck" and I always loved the thought of his parents giving him this name in the hopes of helping him through life... Reminds me of a fairy godmother's gift.
I guess I am the lone vote for Pascale. Penelope is lovely, but I can't stand the nickname Penny. Don't like Nell either. But since Pascale is a "meaning" name, I wonder if it would be odd to bestow on someone not born around Easter?
J&H's mom is Lyndz!e kre8tive for Lindsay?? If it's not I apologize, but if it is I just can't handle that! And I definitely agree that Annabel, Brianna and Lyndz!e are an odd combo... Classic, frilly then Modern sounds then Kre8tive is how I see it.
Ben's Mummy-- Ooh love the suggestion of Sebastion with Benjamin. I like Benjamin and Theodore (theo) too — sort of has a presidential ring to it...
Re: Penelope versus Pascale, I too sort of see Pascale as a French boy's name, however I think that I could get used to it as a girl's name very quickly.
hello again!
For this baby that is due in about 10 weeks, hubby and i have pretty much decided on:
myer holden
myer="bringer of light"
holden="deep valley"
I love the imagery of these names together. "bringer of light to a deep valley".
thoughts?
also- we were loving the name Levin, and almost went with Myer Levin, but couldn't find a solid answer on the meaning of the name.
Some said Levin means "heart", while others said it meant "joined" (like levi). If it truly meant "heart", we might still consider it... "bringer of light to the heart".
Anyone have insight on the name 'Levin'?
(Consequently- DAVIN, I think this name could work for your list as well!)
Emery jo-I like Myer Holden it sounds sort of "wholesome" if that makes any sense. I do not care for Levin. It sounds biblical but I don't know for sure. It also gives me a feeling of the word "leaven as in bread rising". I think this would lead to teasing but again I'm not a fortune teller.
Ben's Mummy-I like the idea of 3 syl names like Zachary and Sebastian and Nicholas that have already been mentioned. I also wondered if 1 or 2 syl names which do not lend themselves to ANY real nn's would work for you. Brian, Eric, Cole, David, Justin, Kevin, Luke/Lucas, Neil, Oliver, Paul, Peter, Phillip, Vincent, Victor, Xavier??
Ben's Mummy, my nephews, ages 5 and 3, are named Benjamin and Samuel, and I think they go beautifully together. Interestingly enough, Benjamin only ever goes by his full name (never Ben or Benny), but Samuel is more often Sammy than anything...
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