Adolescents with Unpopular Names More Prone to Committing Crime
A new study in the journal Social Science Quarterly by David E. Kalist and Daniel Y. Lee of Shippensburg University examined the relationship between first name popularity in adolescents and tendency to commit crime.
Method: To compare the names of juveniles in a state's population with the names of juveniles who received substantiated charges in that state's juvenile justice system, we construct a popularity name index (PNI). For example, the PNI for Michael is 100, the most frequently given name during the period. The PNI for David is 50, a name given half as frequently as Michael. The PNI is approximately 1 for names such as Alec, Ernest, Ivan, Kareem, and Malcolm. Regression analysis is used to examine the relationship among names, crime, and socioeconomic background of juveniles.
Results: The distribution of first names in the state's population is different from the names of juvenile delinquents. Regardless of race, juveniles with unpopular names are more likely to engage in criminal activity and are positively correlated with juvenile delinquency.
Conclusion: Unpopular names are likely not the cause of crime but correlated with factors that increase the tendency toward juvenile delinquency, such as a disadvantaged home environment, residence in a county with low socioeconomic status, and households run by one parent. Also, adolescents with unpopular names may be more prone to crime because they are treated differently by their peers, making it more difficult for them to form relationships. Juveniles with unpopular names may also act out because they consciously or unconsciously dislike their names.
Clare's Lesson of the Day:
Don't name your kids Ryker and Rycin, people.
(See: http://aliki.livejournal.com/390042.html)
Along with these names, which make the top 25 worst names, according to "Baby's named a bad bad thing"--
Dusk, Toolio, Tierrainney, D'Artagnan, Quillon, Griffon, Bayne, McKaty, Cinsere, Laken, Kryslyn, Blaze, Oleo, Irelynd, random Welsh nouns and Celtic names, Kaytaquana and others, Dacoda, Flower, Bubba, Scatman, Kakinston, Creighton, Makynzi, and Quinlynn.
(See: http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/bestof.html)
Source: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121639144/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
Method: To compare the names of juveniles in a state's population with the names of juveniles who received substantiated charges in that state's juvenile justice system, we construct a popularity name index (PNI). For example, the PNI for Michael is 100, the most frequently given name during the period. The PNI for David is 50, a name given half as frequently as Michael. The PNI is approximately 1 for names such as Alec, Ernest, Ivan, Kareem, and Malcolm. Regression analysis is used to examine the relationship among names, crime, and socioeconomic background of juveniles.
Results: The distribution of first names in the state's population is different from the names of juvenile delinquents. Regardless of race, juveniles with unpopular names are more likely to engage in criminal activity and are positively correlated with juvenile delinquency.
Conclusion: Unpopular names are likely not the cause of crime but correlated with factors that increase the tendency toward juvenile delinquency, such as a disadvantaged home environment, residence in a county with low socioeconomic status, and households run by one parent. Also, adolescents with unpopular names may be more prone to crime because they are treated differently by their peers, making it more difficult for them to form relationships. Juveniles with unpopular names may also act out because they consciously or unconsciously dislike their names.
Clare's Lesson of the Day:
Don't name your kids Ryker and Rycin, people.
(See: http://aliki.livejournal.com/390042.html)
Along with these names, which make the top 25 worst names, according to "Baby's named a bad bad thing"--
Dusk, Toolio, Tierrainney, D'Artagnan, Quillon, Griffon, Bayne, McKaty, Cinsere, Laken, Kryslyn, Blaze, Oleo, Irelynd, random Welsh nouns and Celtic names, Kaytaquana and others, Dacoda, Flower, Bubba, Scatman, Kakinston, Creighton, Makynzi, and Quinlynn.
(See: http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/bestof.html)
Source: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121639144/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0