1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: brain Stuff. Lauren vog Obam here with a classic episode 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,559 Speaker 1: from our former host, Christian Sader. This is one where 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: the research really surprised us, the topic does your name 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:24,760 Speaker 1: determine your future? Hey brain Stuff? This is Christian Sager. 6 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: Everyone has a name. I just gave you mine. That's 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: extraordinary though, when you think about it, because it's one 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: of the very few social things that all human beings 9 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,480 Speaker 1: have in common. No matter who you are, where you live, 10 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: or what you do with your life, you and everyone 11 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: else has a name. You might be a Kevin, a Felicia, 12 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: a Mohammed, a Holly, and so on. It's part of 13 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,160 Speaker 1: your identity and helps separate you from the teeming mass 14 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: of humanity. But how much does your name affect you? 15 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: Could it determine your future? Well, it doesn't determine your 16 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: life exactly. Economists Steve Levitt and Roland Friar studied decades 17 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: worth of children's names, only to find that what your 18 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: parents name you doesn't really impact your economic future. So 19 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: you're not doomed to poverty just because your name is 20 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 1: Earnest or something. But your name will certainly affect your future. 21 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: A study called are You Ready? Are Emily and Greg 22 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 1: more employable than Lakisha and Jamal unearthed at least one 23 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: disturbing trend about names. Job applicants with equal qualifications or 24 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: even otherwise identical resumes are about fifty more likely to 25 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: get a callback if they have a white sounding name. 26 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 1: This indicates that despite numerous laws, discrimination still thrives in 27 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: the workplace. Your name doesn't just tell people about you. 28 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: It tells people about your parents and gives them away 29 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: to place you in their vision of society. This isn't 30 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: about whether their vision is correct. That's prejudice, but it 31 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: does affect how people with these expectations in mindsets will 32 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: address and interact with you. And that's not all. Your 33 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: name may also play a role in your career. This 34 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: theory is called nominative determinism, the idea that your name 35 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: may affect the way you interact with the world, including 36 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: anything from donations to your choice of career. For example, 37 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: is someone named Helen Painter more likely to be an artist? 38 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,959 Speaker 1: Or is someone named Jimmy Hogg more likely to work 39 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: with pigs? Matthew Meirenberg and John Jones think so in 40 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: their study and here we go with another name. Why 41 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: Susie sells Seashells by the Sea Shore, Implicit egotism and 42 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: Major Life Decisions classic academic title. These researchers found that 43 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: people are more likely to choose careers whose labels resemble 44 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,559 Speaker 1: their own names. So, to use one of their examples, 45 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: people named Dennis or Denise are overrepresented among can you 46 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: guess it Yeah dentists. Dentists Dennis, Denise, Mehrenberg, and Jones 47 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: believe this happens because people prefer things that they connect 48 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: with themselves, including their own names. Other scientists, like University 49 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: of Pennsylvania's Urie Simonson, are skeptical about this whole idea. 50 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: Are we drawing tenuous conclusions where none exists just to 51 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: support a neat idea? Well, for the record, Simonson does 52 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: suppose that nominative determinism might explain why people named Rachel 53 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: might be more likely to donate in the wake of 54 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: Hurricane Rhea, because as weird as this might sound, that 55 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: similarity just starting with the letter are triggered some sense 56 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: of identification. We haven't even talked about name changes or 57 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,839 Speaker 1: the weird name changes people have tried in court. I'm 58 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: looking at you, Romanico, Sir Tasty Maximilian, Yeah, that is 59 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: his real name. We haven't talked about all the multi 60 00:03:55,720 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: generational popularity cycle they experience either, or, as we like 61 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: to call it, the rise and fall of the Brittany's 62 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: and ash Leaves. Today's episode was written by Ben Bolan 63 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production 64 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in 65 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 1: this and lots of other topics, visit our home planet, 66 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com. Plus for more podcasts for 67 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: my heart radio, visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 68 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.