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 love Tobias James too. Good luck!
Heatherk- congrats on Dylan Murphy- very appropriate for a baby born in Ireland!
Lillian,
I have spent some time thinking hard about your naming situation because it is presents quite a challenge. I would have to agree with Sarah Smile and her guidelines, but I would also add: not a name with the letter l (so Gemma doesn't stand out) and not a 2 syllable name (so Luke doesn't stand out).
With that in mind, here are a few suggestions: Drew/Dru, Reid, Tait, Scout, Cait, Oakes, Ives, Faith, Maj, Beatrix, Meredith, Miriam, Naomi, Sariah
Any others have something that would fall within all the guidelines?
However, all this being said, I believe that it can be hard enough to find a name that can be agreed upon without adding a ton of rules to the mix. So, if I were to drop a rule, it would be the ending... because it's not as likely to stand out. And Fiona would fit that bill rather nicely.
rlegates- I love the suggestion of Corinne/a. It is a very nice name and keeps the same feel as Corridon. However, imo it totally does not go with your proposed mn of Celine. Then again neither does my idea of Caroline unless for both of them you'd like a nn of Cece.
Some suggestions from Nymbler:
Danika; Dara; Helena; Ava; Veronica; Nadia; Anya; Jenna; Gemma; Julia; Piper; Eden; Fiona; Eliza; Mariska; Grace; and Vivien
Rlegates - I like the idea of your girls sharing an initial too, since they will have different last names. Here are my suggestions: Marlo, Mazie, Micah, Margo, Malia, or Maren. The idea of Corridon Mae/May is good too. I would spell nn "Corrie", for a girl though.
Alice Blue Gown- Here's another vote for Tobias James.
Back on topic to Michelles- The "first lady" of DC- that would be Michelle Fenty, wife of DC's mayor Adrian Fenty- gave birth to the couple's third child yesterday.
It was a girl named Aerin Alexandra Fenty, joining older (twin) brothers Andrew and Matthew.
As for Alice Blue Gown, I LOVE Tobias James. Good luck!
I can see that the rhyme in Corinne Celine would probably not work so well, but I don't see what is wrong with Corinna Celine or Caroline Celine.
As someone who usually greatly dislikes when the first and middle names end with the same letter, I'd like to mention that the reason that Tobias James doesn't bother me in the least - in fact, I think they sound quite good together - is that the two "s"s aren't pronounced the same way.
Tobias ends with /s/ while James ends in /z/.
I prefer Tobin to Tobias, but I agree that Tobias might sound better with your last name.
rlegates, is there a reason you aren't considering Celine as the first name? I like the name and I think it sounds very nice with Mira. You said "fairly uncommon but not unknown, feminine but not flowery, easy to learn to write for a little kid". I think Celine fits that very well, and then you could pick any middle name you like. If you prefer Celina, that could work too.
Rlegates:
I totally agree with Sarah Smile that Celine or Celina... prefer Celina personally would fit the bill perfectly for what you are looking for in a first name and sounds quite nice with Mira.
Also some other suggestions
Eva, Beatrix, Ione, Ariadne, Sadie, Jolie, Katia, Tova, Camille, Anais, Lavinia, Ada, Naomi, Coralee or Coraleigh, Portia, Eleni, Dasia, Helena.
Also Maeve... I know it is one syllable but it has such a long syllable sound I feel it doesn't really fit the bill of a typical one syllable name.
For some reason I love Coraleigh with Mira... but it really wouldn't work well with the middle name you had wanted.
Apologies if this has already been posted.
It's a quick little bit about how grown-up children of celebs. feel about their unusual names.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/27840950/?GT1=43001
I was sort of glad to hear Peaches has made peace with hers.
Alice Blue Gown: I'm reiterating my vote for Tobin. I like Tobias, but the name has a old fashioned quality, whereas Tobin is a bit more modern. They are both strong names, though, and would pair well with the mn James. Congrats!
Rlegates:
Some thoughts for your new little girl:
Bianca Celine, Maren Celine, Ana Celine, Evelyn Celine.
Melissa C-I like some of the choices you listed for rlegata. I especially like Camille and since it ends in the /l/ sound I think it goes better with Corinne than the other "C" names that have been listed.
RobynT-I just felt that Caroline pron either the -Lynn or the -Line way was a bit matchy and had too similar an ending. Also, the C beginning sound was a bit too alliterative for me as well.
Rlegata:Just so you know, Maren and Helena have come up more than once as suggestions. Are there any names you can dismiss or are newly considering now?
Alice Blue Gown- I vote for Tobias. It has a classic sound for me for then Tobin. Tobin sounds made up.
Alice Blue Gown, I'm another vote for Tobias James.
rlegates, I like the suggestions of Corriden or Corrina for a girl. I'm also hearing Agnes for some reason, though it may be a bit out there for you. Agnes Celine R0ot is so pretty and Agnes and Mira are a lovely pair.
I also like Louisa, Clara, Elinor, Sasha, and Sadie with your last name and daughter's name.
I prefer Selina with an s. Quite traditional in the UK.
J&H's Mom- Thanks for the link, that was really interesting! I always wondered what celebrity babies thought of their names as adults.
About celebrity's kids' names, I don't think Moxie and Zenton (or whatever it was) are that bad. And Tallulah was just sort of out-of-fashion for it's time I think. Reminds me of Murgatroyd--it's a name with a history, just currently out of style.
The only problem with Celine/Celina is that I think a lot of folks would associate them with the singers (Dion and the Latina played by J.Lo). Not necessarily bad associations, just ones that might get old after being asked over and over.
Celina could also be spelled Selene/Selena.. which is also really pretty but doesn't remind any one of Celine Dion
Robyn, I agree. There's a big difference to me between naming your kid Suri or Shiloh or even Tallulah, and naming your kid Pilot Inspektor or Jermajesty or Kal-El. I might not choose the former myself, but they at least sound like names, and you could imagine introducing yourself to someone as an adult and not having them wonder what your parents were smoking when you were born.
I don't have a strong association between Celine and Dion myself, although I do know who she is. I don't think the name is so unusual, or the singer so popular, that the two can't be separated. I'm sure she'd get asked "oh, like Dion?" occasionally, but not so often as to be a real problem.
There was also a singer that died a few years back named Selena. Wikipedia reminds me that it was in 1995 and she was Latin American. Neither association is bad but it's nice to know about it if it exists.
it's my favourite name..!! by the way i was surfing the internet and noticed that today there are lots of sites containg this name Michelle.. postcards, jeans,, everywhere? it's a rise of this name becouse of american first lady?
I suppose that you had the good time to develop this theme. You know that I have never thought about how the name can influence a situation and if there is a connection with this fact.
My daughter, born July '07, is Anna Michelle (first and middle name). We call her Annie, and it fits her demeaner ("Queen Anne"), but if Michelle becomes too popular with this new first lady, I am seriously considering changing her name to Calista Ann (or Calista Anna). I don't want everyone of her generation to have her name, just like years ago there were so many Jessica's, and later Ashley's, although, I have to admit, in 1969 my name, Julie, was #1. At least in my lifetime, I haven't met a lot of Julie's, and it would have felt weird if there were a tremendous amount.
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