An article in this week's Slate asks, "Why are there so many powerful Michelles in Washington?" Abby Callard writes:
When Michelle Obama moves into the White House next year, she will immediately become the most famous member of one of Washington's most powerful and exclusive clubs: the Michelles.
Callard goes on to list the members of this powerful club, and to speculate on the reasons for the name's power mojo.
I tend to be a little blasé about reports that large numbers of successful people share the same hugely popular name. After all, isn't that exactly what you'd expect? Take, for instance, this 2005 column analyzing the claim that Davids and Susans are unusually likely to get rich. But in the case of the Slate article, something else also gave me pause. The master list of Washington-ruling Michelles included only one person with an actual role in the federal government (a member of congress). The rest were mostly media commentators and wives of powerful men, plus a "well-known life coach." Is that really the best female power name the capital has to offer?
First, let's take a look at the basic claim: do Michelles really rise to political power at a greater rate than other women? Let's assume that the power age band in Washington covers roughly the birth years 1935-1975. About 225,000 American women were named Michelle/Michele/Michell during that time, heavily skewed toward the latter half of the range. The closest matches for that popularity history are Amy and Melissa. If you tally up all the members of congress, cabinet secretaries and deputy secretaries, federal appeals court judges and state governers, you find exactly one Amy, one Melissa, and one Michelle, all in congress. The null hypothesis is looking pretty good about now; Michelles look a lot like everybody else.
So, are there any real power names for Washington women? In congress, the clear winner is Barbara. The name boasts four members, including two senators. (Significantly, the typical Barbara is a full generation older than the typical Michelle, suggesting that the latter name's power days may still lie ahead.) If you broaden to the other categories of government leaders you find another name of interest -- the name which I'd tab as the true #1 political power name for women. Any guesses?
Diana/Diane/Dianne has three representatives in Congress, and four more on the bench in federal appeals courts. That swamps the numbers for similarly common names like Karen and Sharon. Plus you'll find more Dianes, Diannes and Dianas in politics in other nations throughout the English-speaking world. Sure, it's a small sample and not statistically significant. But going back to our discussion of names on ballots...if you see a candidate named Diane or Diana, don't you want to trust her?
Comments
I've known many Michelles- including my sister. None have been "power brokers", but all have been exceedingly good, nice people. My sister went by Shelley until she changed jobs in her 30s (in another state from us), and now all there know her only as Michelle. But we still call her Shelley.
Allison- my votes also go to Georgia and Annika, 2 of my absolute favorite names. Off your boy list, I'm not tickled by any of them, but would choose Griffin for you. I also like Garrett, Everett, or Evan.
Lillian- I'm assuming Kellan is a boy? The only Kellan I've ever met is a girl. Anyway, I have no new suggestions, but will second Ainsley, Brynn, and Rowan.
Louise,
I also think Bronx Wentz has a horrible ring to it. It's stilted and stifling.
I'm surprised by the press saying it is so unsual to give Bronx as a first name. It doesn't seem very unsual or hip to me. Brooklyns have spread across America. Moving on to another burrough doesn't sound very unique to me. (Maybe if they had named him Manhattan)
Mowgli is getting a lot of attention. But it is a too by the numbers. Nearly everyone loves the Jungle Book and chosing its main character is hardly a badge of literary honour or creativity.
At the least they should have had the guts to go with it as a first name.
Overall, honouring Kipling is a good thing in my book. He's very underrated these days.
I would have gone with something a little less obvious. Perhaps Kipling.... or Rudyard (which would be the most original choice of the three).
There are lots of other works by Kipling that have great names like Kimball. But perhaps the Wentzs haven't read beyond the Jungle Book.
GirlRandolph, ooh I really like Kipling!
Allison- My votes go to Annika or Madelyn for girls (on it's own I like Madelyn the best!). Boys I like Lachlan or Elliot.
Lillian of the suggestions you mentioned liking Fiona and Rowan. I definitely vote for Fiona of those two I think it flows best with the other names!
@Allison - From your list, my favorites are Georgia and Lachlan.
My least favorites of yours are Madelyn & Graydon - which IMHO sound far less classy & way too non-traditional next to the wonderful names you've already bestowed upon your two sons, William & Cameron.
@Lillian - My suggestion for number 5? Amelie, a vasectomy for DH, and a well-deserved spa day for you. ;)
re: Bronx M. Wentz - too hideous for words. Poor kid.
Hello NE's!! Longtime lurker here, first time commenter seeking your input on our small naming dilemma.
We are expecting a boy any day now, who my husband wants to nickname Toby. I feel our son's given first name ought to be either Tobias, Tobiah, Tobin, or something else from which to derive the nickname Toby. Our last name sounds like Daytona. Any suggestions for a first & middle name for our boy would be so greatly appreciated! Thank you!!
TO: Melissa C
How weird. I am a Michelle (I prefer nicknames because I think my name is too dull). I am a Michelle and I have a twin sister named Melissa. When I meet people who don't know I have a twin, they call me Melissa sometimes out of the blue. Why do people always put those names together: Melissa and Michelle? Is it because of the double letters -- the SS and LL. I don't know. I like Melissa better than Michelle, though. I wish my parents would have picked Melissa and Alyssa
to: Alice Blue Gown
Tobiah is neat! I'd prefer it over just Toby, but I do like the idea of Toby as a nickname! Tobiah, how cool! I never heard of that! Tobiah James is cute, but then he might be called T.J. which is so common these days. Tobiah Ethan looks weird but sounds neat
to the person who asked: Is it just me or is Bronx Wentz REALLY hard to say?
I say yes! After saying Bronx you have to take a pause and start all over again to say Wentz. It doesn't flow quite right. I am not putting their name choice down, but I just think it is really trying too hard and in the trying to hard process they really didn't think this name through.
Alice Blue Gown-
Based on your last name pronunciation-- something like Daytona-- (and my personal bias) I'd go with Tobias. I think Tobin Daytona and Tobiah Daytona have too many repetitive sounds for my personal taste.
It's hard to suggest a middle name not knowing much about your tastes-- Can you give us more of an idea of what kind of names you like?
For some reason the first name that comes to mind, again pretending your last name is Daytona is:
Tobias James Daytona
Mim-- hadn't seen your post when I commented. How strange, I wonder what it is about Tobia(s) (h) James?
LOL! Aybee, James is just a perfect middle name. I am going with Apollo James when I have a boy. I often want to give James as a girl's middle name. I love Eve as a name, and I used to have Eve James. Yech. But James just rocks
Hi Allison,
I love the name Lachlan- some friends of ours recently named their son that, except spelt Lochlan.... and I really really like it.
I also love Georgia and Annika and Madelyn.... (although where I live Madelyn is extremely poular...)
Just thowing a suggestion out there- Theodore (Theo.)
(I still like Lachlan better though)
The poker dudes are at it again. The thread started with girls' names they like and don't like and then added boys' names. It won't surprise anyone that the girls' names they like are the names that are uber-popular right now, and the ones they don't like belong to my mother's and grandmother's--and my--generations.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/34/other-other-topics/names-good-bad-3...
Again be forewarned that these buys are mostly in their late teens and early twenties, can be crude, and like pictures of young ladies wearing minimal clothing.secret utation
btw 'guest' above is actually Miriam. the software wouldn't let me post under Miriam, saying it belonged to a registered user (well, duh), and the login button wouldn't work. Any suggestions? And the secret utation was the captcha which somehow made it into the message. And since I couldn't log in, I couldn't edit it out.
Alice Blue Gown -- I'd suggest Tobias James, too. I agree that while Toby is a great nn, a more formal name is always good.
Tobias reminds me of the character on Arrested Development. The show never really took off, so I'm not sure lots of people will recognize it, but it's something to consider. Of the names, I love Tobin.
Miriam, Thanks for posting the poker dudes' comments! That was hilarious. The funniest thing about it is that they're having the conversation at all. I was wondering where you'd been. I have no idea how to fix the login problem. Good luck!
Elaine,
Tobias from "Arrested Development"--I love the name, but what pops into my head immediately is "never nude"! Ha ha.
Bronx Wentz is like Bronwen with a collision along the way.
Elizabeth T.--
I do think it's funny that the poker dudes judge girls' names by whether the girls they knew by a particular name were hot--or not, and yet their overriding concern is not to name their daughters anything that is stripperish or "slutty." Well, no one ever expected guys to be logical....If they don't want their daughters to be perceived as stripperish, maybe they should name them all Bertha. :-)
Alice Blue Gown - I too like Tobias
Allison - I like Griffin but I think Elliott goes better with your other sons' names. I like the suggestion someone else had of Garrett. Madelyn is nice but very popular where I am. I like Georgia.
Lillian - Welcome to the Moms of 5 club - I like Rowan.
Miriam - Glad to see you were able to log on as yourself. I'm guessing most guys don't think about names much without an association to attach to the name like "hot". A daughter seems to be the strange dichotomy of someone you care about how they look but don't want people to think of having sex with.
I won't be sharing their idea that Shannon is a "slutty" name with my cousin who has a 6 month old Shannon.
Bronx Wentz? Bronx Mowgli Wentz?! Bronx could be ok by itself. Mowgli just sounds silly notwithstanding Kipling. Altogether it is a trainwreck.
Christine, I was surprised to see both Shannon and Heather on the list of 'slutty' names. If I had to label them I would think 'tomboyish with a feminine side, down to earth, no-nonsense, low maintenance'. Which is almost the opposite.
Ha! Of the worst-sounding names for girls according to the poker dudes, my grandmothers have 2 of the 5 (Myrtle and Eunice) and if you substitute Gretchen for Gertrude, I have 3 of 5. It's like Bingo!
Alice Blue Gown-- hi and congrats! I'm fond of Tobin, which sounds clean and distinctive.
For middle names, I'm drawn to something like Tobin Elias or Tobin Oliver.
Alice Blue Gown: Personally of your "Toby" name choices I love Tobin, also like Tobias.
Here's a few middle name suggestions: Tobin Jared, Tobin Alexander, Tobin William, Tobias Jacob, Tobin Philip, Tobin Joseph, Tobin John, Tobin Christopher, Tobin Andrew, Tobin Isaac
I think Tobin Andrew is my favorite.
This "forum" seems like the perfect place to get name suggestions, so I'll put my request out there. We're having girl #2, and big sister is named Mira Elizabeth.
We love the name Mira, as it is fairly uncommon but not unknown, feminine but not flowery, easy to learn to write for a little kid. Ok, hard for a toddler to pronounce (she calls herself "Meena"), but that will be outgrown. The only downside is that she sometimes gets called Myra instead. Elizabeth is a family name.
So the big problem with #2 is my husband's last name, which is Root. We can't use anything vaguely botanical, and we don't really like one-syllable names, or anything ending in -ra or -ry (we avoided this problem with our first daughter by giving her my last name, but we want #2 to be a Root).
We'd like something that has the same qualities as Mira: feminine but not frilly, not too popular but not weird, easy to spell and pronounce. We're leaning towards Celine as a middle name (after a very close friend).
Sigh, we had the perfect boy's name picked out, too. Any and all suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!
May I suggest Tobias Elroy?
rlegates:
Maybe Lydia Celine?
Leah Celine
Lorna Celine
Fiona Celine
What was the perfect boy name you had picked out?
How about Nina Celine Root?
It's Corridon, nn Cory. My husband's middle name, passed down through eight generations of firstborn sons. First in line had it as a first name, but I'm guessing it was his mother's maiden name. It's fairly common as a last name in Ireland, and there is an old tradition of naming children with mother's maiden names.
new washington births:
addyson brianne
hannah bree
gavin robert
new birth announcement
Born on Thursday in Ireland
Dylan Murphy(the father is still campaigning for a name change to Harvey though!!)
younger brother to Sophie Ellen Murphy
the other name in the running was Shay
rlegates, three or four syllables might be the way to go, so that "Root" doesn't sound too abrupt/anticlimactic. However, these suggestions may be too frilly:
Eliza
Antonia
Matilda
Louisa
Cecilia
Claudia
rlegates - What about
Mia, Anya, Lucy, Marley, Adele, Gemma, Leah, Jillian, Hailey, Elise, Josie, Amy, Lauren, Cassidy, Della, Delaney, Eliza, Naomi?
Wow-so much to comment on here and so many people to offer suggestions to. I'll see if I can address everyone.
Re:Michelle as first lady-I think this is a great name. While I would agree that Barbara and Diane seem like very powerful names, I think Michelle fits also just like Caroline does. I do not think Laura is very powerful sounding though. I am a child of the mid-60's and knew a few Michelle/Michele 's in my school days (now not so much). What do you all think of the uber-popular-in-my-day Jennifer? Or Allison?
BDL: Thanks for the trivia! My dh could only think of 3 of them-Eisenhower and the 2 Adams. Who are we missing?
KRC:Congrats! Hugo is decidedly masculine. NMS but you seem awfully fond of it so I say go for it!
ET:Plummer and Statira seem a bit odd but the rest do not. Btw, Sabrina is not a common name anymore. I like it. Anyone have any other associations other than "the Teenage Witch"?
Allison: I love all your choices. I would lean towards Annika and Griffin or Elliott. Actually Griffin Elliott LN sounds perfect to me.
Juniemoon: I would pron Liev as "leave but shorter" and Leiv as "lay-v".
Valerie: I hadn't even thought of the Pig Latin connection till you mentioned it. I think Abri3lla Gail is nice.
Louise: Back to the drawing board for us too! Do you need suggestions?
J&H's mom:I agree that Grace has a powerful ring to it. Many names that are simple and classic can-Sarah, and Beth come to mind. But I don't "see" the power in names like Addison or Claire or Bertha.
Lillian: It occurred to me that your next child needs and L sound in the name to "match" the sounds of the others. Did you list them in order from oldest>youngest? If so, you have (soundwise) L, short E, L, short E. So now an L sound. I will second Amelia and Alexis.
Re:Bronx-His mn should have been Kipling or Rudyard. It would have flowed MUCH better.
Re:Shannon and Heather as "slutty" names: I think of Shannon Dougherty and Heather Locklear as examples. Pretty but not what I would want a dd to be.
Alice Blue Gown: Congrats! Tobias/Tobin/Tobiah etc are good but a bit too matchy for me with your LN. However, since you are on your way towards naming him soon I will give a nod towards Tobin William/Tobin Elijah/Tobin Richard/Tobin Xavier/Tobin Matthias Daytona.
rlegates:Congrats! I have to say I'm sorry though. When I first looked at Mira Elizabeth I said "My-ra" in my head. But anyway, suggestions for you to go with that are-
Caroline/ Corrigan/ Carrington to build on the same feel of your boy name pick.
Also, Natalie/Kylie/Alexis/Delayna are some others I thought of. I think they go well with Celine as a mn.
zoerhenne, as a Jennifer of the 80's I think it's a pretty serious name, could be powerful and anything we want it to be. Not quite as serious as Barbara and Diane, but much more so than Allison and Jessica for example. I guess it makes sense that we would each view our own name differently, but I've never felt that Jennifer was overly popular in the fluffy way it is portrayed with Jessica, Allison, Lisa, Britney. All those names seem less weighty to me than Jennifer. Perhaps because I always connect with it's history- Queen Guenevere etc? I know Jessica has a Shakespearean pedigree too, but because I knew so many growing up I have a hard time thinking of it as old.
Jen on the other hand... that seems much more popular, less weighty to me.
Guess I'm just subconsciously trying to make sure I can be a judge if I want to be right?;)
lillian-Bridget or Claire. Definitely.
Or (don't everyone throw rocks) you could go with Quinn.
In addition to the Heather and Shannon zoerhenne named, I wonder if Shannon is a "slutty" name because of Shannon Elizabeth in American Pie. I'm pretty sure she also appeared in Maxim. Heather could be from Heather Graham's characters in Austin Powers and Boogie Nights.
I'm so grateful for all of your input re: Toby Daytona. Your comments helped us finalize his nickname: JAMES! Thank you!
We still can't decide between Tobias (5 of you liked) and Tobin (4 of you liked). I'm a little concerned about the sounds being "too matchy," as some of you pointed out. Anyone have any final thoughts to share before my water breaks? Many thanks!
Err, I meant Toby's Middle Name will be JAMES! Thank you!
Alice Blue Gown-Wonderful choice! Hang on there on the almost about to burst stuff. I think either Tobin or Tobias would work with LN but with Tobias and James both ending in S then maybe Tobin is better. Your LN is tough in that it is vowel heavy. Day-TOE-Nah and TOE-bye-us or TOE-bin is also vowel heavy on the O sound. However, James has the Long A like Day so that doesn't help to reverse the order and still call him Toby. Sorry if that didnt really help. Hmm. I guess if those are my only choices I still say Tobin.
Jenny L3igh-LOL! You can be anything you want to be! Judge Jenny has a nice alliteration.
Alice Blue Gown-
Glad we could help with the middle name.
Zoerhenne makes some good points but I will still second my earlier vote for Tobias.
I just think Tobias Daytona has a better flow and seems less matchy than Tobin Daytona. I don't see the ending S as being an issue with Tobias James Daytona, Tobias and James have entirely different sounds. Tobin James is also attractive but I think less attractive with your last name. Both Tobin & Tobias are nice names-- whichever you go with. Good luck choosing!
Another revote for Tobias James. Good luck!
I vote for Tobias James. Great name.
and to rlegate, what about Corridon, nn Cory for a girl, too? Maybe Corridon May so that she share an initial with her big sister? Or Corinne, nn Cory. I knew a Corinna Marie growing up and I always thought it the prettiest name!
I vote for Tobias James as well, they sound so different that the fact that they both end in "s" doesn't bother me in the least.
Haha, zoerhenne, thanks, if I were to become a judge (highly unlikely as I prefer museum work, but you never know!) I'll probably stick with Jennifer... don't want people coming in thinking they get to start fights like on Judge Judy (or whatever they do on that show, I've never seen it). Heehee.
That said... Judy has a solid ring to it for me like Diane and Barbara, what do you know!
Corinne "Corrie" or "Cory" is a great suggestion. I also like the way Corinne sounds with Mira.
I prefer Tobias James as well, especially with your last name. Good luck!!
Alice Blue Gown --
I will put in another vote for Tobias James.
I don't know where you live, but I'm in Boston and here, Tobin is an old and rickety bridge into the city from the northern suburbs. So when I hear Tobin, that's all I think of!
Of course, here Logan is the airport and that hasn't stopped it from becoming a very popular name...but it's another one I could never use.
Good luck with the delivery of baby Toby!
I like Tobias James best too. I like Tobin, but Tobias goes better with your last name.
Thanks everyone for the comments about Hugo. DH has no doubt - he loves it. I was MUCH more sure about Astrid for a girl. I'm open to suggestions!
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