Because Juvenile Delinquents Don't Come In Steve, Matt, or John

What is in a name?

Bullshit study of the day: A group of economists from Shippensburg University just released a study that links "uncommon names" — you know what they mean — with juvenile delinquency.

"Our results show that unpopular names are positively correlated with juvenile delinquency for both blacks and whites," reads the report. "Furthermore, unpopular names are correlated with factors that increase the tendency towards juvenile delinquency, such as a disadvantaged home environment and residence in a county with low socioeconomic status."

Of course a guy named James, born into a single parent home in a bad neighborhood with bad schools and grows up with bad friends will be able to avoid juvie with more success than a guy named D'Angelo. Right?

"We're arguing it's not the name per se that causes the juvenile to behave badly, but it's the family background," says one of the researchers.

So what exactly is the point? [USAT]

Jun 11, 2008 · posted by Lauren Williams, Stereohyped · Link · 4 Responses

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Tagged: Names, Studies & Surveys

Comments (4)

No. 1 · daria from Gorgeous Black Women

Well, there's definitely an association between name choices and both the education of the mother and the family income. There are some "uncommon" names that are used far more in good situations (both parents around, mother is well-educated, family lives in a low-crime area) vs. less good ones (father not around, mother is a high school drop out, family lives in a high-crime area). Imani is very popular with rich black educated folk.

Posted: Jun 11, 2008 at 5:25 pm

No. 2 · Chic Noir

Well, there’s definitely an association between name choices and both the education of the mother and the family income.
^^I think we can all agree with this.

I think what the researchers are trying to say is African-American ethnic names do not hold some mystical force which make a child given one prone to a life of crime etc… Growing up in a bad enviroment has the largest impact on the life of a child, and those who come from low imcome areas are more likly to have AA ethnic names.
I love the name DeAndre

Posted: Jun 11, 2008 at 6:53 pm

No. 3 · daria from Gorgeous Black Women

I hate Andre and so I also hate DeAndre. It just sounds like something to name a hermaphrodite. Like "you were almost an Andrea but you have a micropenis AND ovaries so we named you Andre."

Posted: Jun 12, 2008 at 11:26 am

No. 4 · RhymesWithSilver

OMG Daria- awesome.

I think people get a certain impression of you when they hear your name. I can guess with 95% which part of town LaShawn and Shaniqua are from. The same can be said for Madison and Graham. You're basically placing your personal stamp on your kid when you name them, so it says a lot about the parents and the family background. All of that before you ever meet the person. It's not really fair, but when a trend is so complete, it's hard not to get ideas.

Posted: Jun 13, 2008 at 12:34 am

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