10 Baby Names Most Likely to Cause Boys Trouble

[ecstatic]

What's in a name? As it turns out, a lot. A study of 15,000 names given to boys born between 1987 and 1991 turned up an interesting finding: The more unusual, feminine or offbeat a name, the more likely the boy is to end up a committing a crime.

How does a name affect a boys future success, or criminal record, as the case may be? Researchers aren't sure, but they think that a lifetime of merciless teasing may prime an oddly-named boy to be an outcast, or to have low self-esteem.

But a look at the top 10 list of names likely to land a boy in jail is confounding, because while some of these names might be awkward, they aren't really that odd or unusual: Alec, Ernest, Garland, Ivan, Kareem, Luke, Malcom. Preston, Tyrell, and Walter.

Luke? Really?

http://www.parentdish.com/2009/07/20/10-baby-names-most-likely-to-cause-boys-trouble/?icid=main|netscape|dl7|link7|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parentdish.com%2F2009%2F07%2F20%2F10-baby-names-most-likely-to-cause-boys-trouble%2F

Hmm...

[SoCalDem]

1. Brian, Michael, David

A teacher's study a while back had those three names at the top of the "trouble in class" list..

I have a Michael ( the baddest boy of the bunch:)..)

I have a friend with a Brian AND a Michael, and she concurs :)

[Sanity Claws]

12. But Michael is the most common name

There are bound to be some troublesome Michaels because there are so many of them.

[SoCalDem]

14. I know I know.. but you'd have been hard-pressed to convince me

back when our Michael was bulldozing through his teens:)

[sakabatou]

22. There were two other Michaels in my 6th grade class

The teacher had to call us by our last names.

[dana_b]

52. 5 Michaels in our family

and not even planned. My ex-hubby, my daughter's guy, my brother, my BIL and my step grandpa. Oh, and my daughter's two ex boyfriends were both Michaels as well as an ex boyfriend of mine. I think we'd welcome a Walter or a Tyrell.

[TahitiNut]

62. My teachers used "Mike X" to distinguish between us.

:shrug: I don't recall ever having a class without at least one other 'Michael.'

[TahitiNut]

60. As a 'Michael' ...

... I concur. :evilgrin:

[SoCalDem]

76. Every Michael I have ever known is a rascal

some more than others, but they are all "difficult" :evilgrin:

[TahitiNut]

81. Yup. It's the life assignment we all get from the Tooth Fairy on her first visit.

:silly:

[Archae]

2. A boy named Sue.

;-)

[rrneck]

5. Damn. Gotta be quick around here. nt

[Maru Kitteh]

51. +1

[proteus_lives]

79. Going from town to town to hide my shame,

;-)

[David__77]

3. I think this is picking up on other sociological factors beside name.

There are rather obvious demographic questions involved, and the historical inequity of the criminal justice system.

[mitchum]

4. I believe that you are correct, David

[MADem]

8. Ivan? They're after the Russkies? nt

[undeterred]

6. George

[n2doc]

88. That's the name most likely to cause trouble for the rest of us.... n/t

[ellenfl]

7. i think name ethnicity counts for a more than indicated here. eom

[customerserviceguy]

9. I just wish

people would stop the silly habit of giving last names to their kids to use as first names...

[greenbriar]

10. had we had a boy his name would have been Zachary Lynn

but we had a girl

[SoCalDem]

16. I set out wanting Susan, Dianne & Katherine, but

got Scott, Michael & Steven, instead :rofl:

Never did get to "use" the girls' names:(

[PSzymeczek]

23. I wanted "Megan", the ex wanted "Freda"

I compromised on "Fredrika" She goes by her middle name.

[Skittles]

44. good lord

I gotta tell ya, PS, I cannot blame Fredrika for ditching that one! :7

[N7255Q]

28. Is her name Lynn Zachary?

:D

[wtbymark]

11. Ann (the man) n/t

[rwheeler31]

13. Why?

[FrenchieCat]

15. Do they discuss "trouble" girl names? Just curious.

[SoCalDem]

17. I would guess that Michelle & Tiffany would be somewhere near the top

based on every one I ever met :evilgrin:

[BlooInBloo]

19. Britney. I win.

:P

[SoCalDem]

20. I think you might be right..

:rofl:

[sweetladybug]

35. If they have a list of girls names, I would say Melissa would be a the very top of the list

I know some very evil and nothing but trouble "Melissas"

[LWolf]

39. Michaela. No matter how you spell it.

Probably because there are just too damn many of them; I usually have 5 or 6 every year (in my classes, lol.)

The female version of Michael:

Michaela, Mikayla, Mickaela, Mickayla, Mikaela, Makalya, and Michayla...they are all hell on wheels.

[RayOfHope]

41. This teacher agrees and wants to throw "Mika" into the mix n/t

[Regret My New Name]

47. Oh now you did it, everyone is listing their ex-BFF's name...

[AspenRose]

86. I used to work for a family law attorney who was a guardian ad litem

She found there was a disproportionate number of girls named "Amber" and "Destiny" in trouble.

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. There was a man who attended the church I attended when I was young named "Bunny"

The thing is, he had a son about my age.

He was Bunny Jr.

I shit you not.

[ecstatic]

29. LOL! That's my aunt's name! nt

[greguganus]

31. I used to work with a man whose 1st & middle names were Badger Barrel n/t

[XemaSab]

56. Last name Palin?

:hide:

[greguganus]

82. lol n/t

[SoCalDem]

77. The manager of our Walgreens named his daughter Kricket and his son Korkie

that's their GIVEN names...not nicknames... I always imagined a mother saying to her child.. "Take that to Grandma Kricket"..

People need to realize that their precious baby will someday be an adult..maybe a boss, and their name should not be campy, silly, goofy, etc.. You can nickname them anything (We had a "Beebs"), but for their LEGAL name, why not give them one that they can grow into:)

[aquart]

21. What about PEANUT????

Pity poor Peanut Rademacher.

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. It's not the first name but the middle name

Avoid Earl.

;-)

[johnaries]

34. Unless you want Karma to catch up with you. nt

[northzax]

46. earl> heck no

avoid Wayne. you're almost guaranteed to produce a criminal with Wayne as a middle name.

and just for safety's sake, skip it as a first name, too.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

53. Yes the famous middle name.

Belongs to numerous famous serial killers.

Elmer Wayne Henley

John Wayne Gacy

My ex has that middle name. Not a serial criminal, not a killer, but a killer of souls.

[XemaSab]

59. You're forgetting Wayne Adam Ford

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/wayne_adam_ford/index.html

[XemaSab]

58. Was going to say Wayne

Wayne and Earl. :banghead:

The horrible thing: my grandpa's name and the name of the prevert I sued. x(

[Mariana]

73. Indeed. Wayne Williams. Wayne Nance.

The only "Wayne" I ever knew was named Alvin Wayne. Miraculously with such a name, he didn't become a serial killer, but he did get banged up for drug trafficking.

[Art_from_Ark]

66. There's always an exception

James Earl Carter

[JVS]

25. Walter? Ivan?

[ohheckyeah]

26. Luke?

I'm with you. Really? My nephew is named Luke.

[Liberal_in_LA]

27. Garland?

[Mythsaje]

30. Is this correlation or causation? n/t

[Robb]

32. Ding ding, we haaaave a winaaaah!

:thumbsup:

[JenniferJuniper]

33. Peter Babbitt was in my first grade class and

to top it all off, he had a speech impediment. Must look him up....

[rhiannon55]

36. I know a young woman who named her son "Messiah"

Poor kid.

[Hekate]

69. I'll bet his nickname was "Mess" and I'll bet he had a *real* Messiah Complex.

What an awful thing to do to a kid.

Hekate

[AngryAmish]

37. Wayne

John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Bobbit


all named after The Duke - if you are stupid enough to name your kid after a movie star, don;t be surprised when it ends in tears.

[mitchum]

43. add Elmer Wayne Henley to that cautionary list

[zbdent]

38. Ernest?

and I haven't been in jail ...

but ... if I endured just a few more "My Three Sons" jokes ... I might have spent some time ...

[rwheeler31]

40. Come on people the Jason's were awful.

[Regret My New Name]

48. Freddies too.

[csziggy]

71. My MOM's name is Freddie - her birth certificate says "Unnamed Female Child"

It's strange, both her brothers have full names, nice first and middle names. Mom, nothing but a nickname. I guess my grandparents didn't plan on a girl.

[earth mom]

42. I'm skeptical. My husband has and my father had unusual names = both great guys!

While my oldest brother had a common, quite likable name and he was a hellion!

[Sparkly]

45. One of those was my first husband's name.

And yeah, he was dangerously crazy.

[Regret My New Name]

49. So maybe I shouldn't name my first son Preston Kareem-Luke-Tyrell Walton?

[donheld]

50. What, pray tell are the saint inducing names?

[Withywindle]

54. Walter? Really?

That was my great-grandfather's name. (He was not a criminal--but he was a hell-raiser. Back in the 1910's when he was young that was still a meaningful distinction. His WWI medals cemented his pillar-of-the-community status, though--although nowadays, smoking a cigar in a restaurant, as he was fond of doing, is enough to put you on a shit list). I've never met anyone named Walter who was under 70 and wasn't a cat.

Malcolm? Really?

Luke? All *that* means is that your mom was a kid in the 70s and loved Star Wars or the Dukes of Hazzard or both!

Preston, now, I agree on that one. That totally sounds like a yuppie date-rapist.

[lpbk2713]

65. Luke's main problem ...

Failyuh to communicate.

[Mariana]

74. Note to self: Never name kids after extremely popular

movies and television shows.

Someday we'll be reading about how there are so many Harry's banged up.

[Withywindle]

75. I admit I am suspicious of any little girl named "Trinity"

or even more obviously, "Hermione."

On the other hand, I have nothing against geek names and wouldn't rule out giving a theoretical child of mine a MIDDLE name that was after a lesser-known Tolkien character.

I had a friend in college whose middle name was "Nichelle," after Nichelle Nichols. She'd been ashamed when she was little---and then got proud as a middle-school nerd girl whose family kept telling her about the times they stopped everything to watch the Black woman on TV whose character was strong and smart and respected.

[SoCalDem]

78. A baby in the nursery with my 3rd, was named Urea..

poor kid:(

another one was named Temple Starr ..

[Withywindle]

80. I went to school with a "Sharon Hooker."

My mom worked with a "Love Cox."

[Art_from_Ark]

55. At my school, it seemed like every kid named "Steve"

was a troublemaker.

[Forkboy]

57. And I'm still proving that theory correct!

:D

[XemaSab]

61. No Davids?

Having dated three Davids, they're all shits. x(

[TheKentuckian]

63. I hear Sue is a rough one to carry through life for a fella.

[Lorien]

64. I have a cousin who named her boy Tater Joe

and a friend who named her two boys Phineas and Miles. Think there will be any problems there?

[chatnoir]

67. Ivan??

Wonder if it matters how it's pronounced...

[alfredo]

68. I guess Blister Pansy Hitler is out.

[LeftyMom]

70. When selecting a child's name, pick one that will look good on a job application.

If you must give them an unusual name because of family tradition or a lack of self control or whatever, make sure they have a totally normal, easily pronounceable name to use for business purposes as well if they choose.

Also, do not give a girl a name that only sounds reasonable for a stripper. I went to school with a girl whose real legal first name was Sparkle. There is no future job that does not involve a shiny pole and very high heels for a woman named Sparkle, because it's completely unprofessional (it could be worse, her sister's equally real, legal name was Bubbles. Seriously.) Give your kid a name that will look reasonable on their business card as a bank manager or whatever, you can always give them a crazy nickname as well if you like.

I grew up in a largely Asian neighborhood, and it's locally traditional for kids to get their ethnic name and their "American" name, which is often a bit old fashioned sounding. So Phuc (pronounced "fuck") Tran's American name, which he uses for school and work is John, and Chang Lin's American name is Frances. Generally these names are unofficial, but sometimes they're official middle names.

[AspenRose]

87. I totally agree

And there have been studies done that job applicants with "obviously ethnic" sounding names usually didn't get callbacks for interviews. The more "progressive" the employer, however, the more likely the callback.


United States
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/29/national/main575685.shtml

Australia
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1029882/-Ethnic-names-struggle-in-job-search

United Kingdom
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6638377.ece

Canada
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/05/26/chris-selley-what-s-in-a-name-a-job-interview-apparently.aspx

[csziggy]

72. The best first name I ever heard of was "Sportmodel"

Second best - in the same neighborhood - was "Carless." I think they both grew up to be mechanics.

[mainer]

83. Don't give him the middle name "Wayne"

That seems to be a guarantee of getting him into trouble.

John Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Bobbitt
etc.

[PVnRT]

84. Max Fightmaster

http://www.cracked.com/article_14982_9-manliest-names-in-world.html

[lpbk2713]

85. First: Rush .... Middle: Hundson ....

Equals: Total Asshole for life.