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What's in a name? It's just a word, a tag we use to talk about people so everyone knows wo we are talking about, isn't it? Or at least that is how it should be, don't you think?

But it is not, as anthropologists (and now psychologists as well) have been telling us for a long time. There is a reason why names run in families (with the addition of Jr., II, III, ...). There is a reason why there is a big market for Baby Names books. Names have subtle power over people.

Now, Sheril discusses a recent study from the University of Florida about the subtle effect of female names on their prospects in science and math.

As a kid, I never thought of this. You meet people and learn their names and never think of names as being weird, or macho or feminine or whatever. This only starts happening as you are growing up and accumulating your own life's name-list. And your name-list will be deeply affected by people you personally know. It took me a while to shed the notion that every Sofia is superficial and shallow because the first Sofia I have ever known (a girl I sat with in 2nd grade) was such a person.

I was most struck with the entire notion of the importance of names once we started picking names for our own babies. And those were names in Engish language. For my wife, the names were colored mainly by her own childhood experiences. For me, the first encounters with most of those names were in movies, TV shows and books. We disagreed on almost every name as to what it denotes!

What bothers me most about the study (and Sheril touches on that somewhat) is the definition of 'feminine'. What is it? Who's asking? Does 'feminine' mean pale, thin, silent wallflower? Or chick with a nice sat of T&As?

And this is where, I think, the study reveals not so much sexist thinking as classist! The names that are considered "soft" are also names considered to be "aristocratic", names you find in the lineage of the British Monarchy, for instance. The "hard" names are considered to be more masculine because they are also considered to be more proletarian - names of people you can encounter actually doing hard work.

It has already been documented in the past how names that obviously belong to African American women are a handicap in getting a job or getting accepted at a University (refs, anyone?). As for the names that are not currently popular - if you know someone of that name, it is probably an older lady, who may behave in an old-fashioned way (from your perspective), so you get your prejudices from that.

Anyway, as you are growing up, it is not the other kids that judge you by your name (or even by your looks), it is the adults. And that can certainly influence your self-esteem and your choice of career. So, I am not surprised by the finding of the study, as much as concerned as to how to counter it in practice.

Update: I wrote the above in a 15-minute rush. May come back later to add some more in the comments. Here is the original Observer article (does anyone have an actual published paper of this?)

Also see good discussions on Thus Spake Zuska, Omni Brain, I am ... unhindered by talent, Gene Expression Classic, Joanne Jacobs and Pharyngula.

Update: More interesting takes on The Island of Doubt, The Scientific Indian and Adventures in Ethics and Science.