Apologies for crashing again, but won't people have a rough idea of your age from looking at your graduation year?

Yes, that is true, but when you're going through 6,000 applications you see the giant:

Jessica L. Mylastname

at the top alot more prominant and noticible then the Notre Dame High 1998-2001 under education...when you're scanning through apps you're more likely to look first at "Did this person GO to school?" more then "What years?"

HIJACK
You're not crashing as long as you respect the site's TOS and this forum's policies. :)
END HIJACK

Speak of the devil...
 

Black parents torn over ethnic names

By JUSTIN POPE
Associated Press


When Vonnessa Goode of Boston gives birth in a few weeks, one of her first decisions could be among the toughest: whether to give her daughter a distinctively black name.

On the one hand, Goode and the child's father don't want their
daughter "robbed of her ethnicity," she said. On the other, she
believes a distinctively black name could end up being an economic impediment.

"I do believe, now when a résumé comes across an employer's desk, they could be easily discriminated against because they know that person is of African-American descent," she said. "It's a difficult decision."

Minorities of all kinds have wrestled with whether to celebrate their culture by giving their children distinctive names or help them "blend in" with a name that won't stick out. Thousands of Jews have changed their names, hoping to improve their economic prospects in the face of discrimination, as have Asians and other minorities.

Blacks have chosen increasingly distinctive names over the past
century; the trend accelerated in the 1960s.

Researchers who looked at census records have found that 100 years ago, the 20 most popular names were largely the same for blacks and whites; now only a handful are among the most popular with both groups. Names like DeShawn and Shanice are almost exclusively black, while whites, whose names have also become increasingly distinctive, favor names like Cody and Caitlin.

Two recent papers from the National Bureau of Economic Research draw somewhat different conclusions about whether a black name is a burden.One, an analysis of the 16 million births in California between 1960 and 2000 (including me -- ST) , claims such name choice has no significant effect on how someone's life turns out.

The other, however, suggests that a black-sounding name remains an impediment in getting a job. After responding to 1,300 classified ads with dummy résumés, the authors found black-sounding names were 50 percent less likely to get a callback than white-sounding names with comparable résumés.

If nothing else, the first paper, by the bureau's Roland Fryer and the University of Chicago's Steven Levitt, based on California birth data, provides probably the most detailed snapshot yet of distinctive naming practices. It shows, for instance, that in recent years more than 40 percent of black girls were given names that weren't given to even one of the more than 100,000 white girls born in the state the same year.

The data do appear to show that a poor woman's daughter is more likely to be poor when she gives birth -- but no more so because she has a distinctively black name.

Fryer said the study shows that black parents shouldn't fear ethnic names and that they don't have to change their culture, but should push for greater integration.

The University of Chicago's Marianne Bertrand and MIT's Sendhil
Mullainathan, however, appeared to find that a black-sounding name can be an impediment in another recent National Bureau of Economic Research paper titled "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal?"

The authors evaluated the content of 500 real résumés taken from online job boards, as objectively as possible, for quality, using such factors as education and experience. Then they replaced the names with made-up names picked to "sound white" or "sound black" and responded to 1,300 job ads in the Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune last year.

Previous studies examined how employers respond to similarly qualifiedapplicants they meet in person, but this experiment tried to isolate the response to the name itself.

White names drew about one callback per 10 résumés; black names got one per 15. Carries and Kristens had callback rates of more than 13 percent, but Aisha, Keisha and Tamika got 2.2 percent, 3.8 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively. And having a higher-quality résumé, featuring more skills and experience, made a white-sounding name 30 percent more likely to elicit a callback; black-sounding names were only 9 percent more likely to draw one.

Michelle Botus, a 37-year-old student at Massachusetts' Bunker Hill Community College whose children are Asia, Alaysia, Khalima and Denzil, said she would advise mothers to choose names they like, then make sure their children get the education they need to rise above any discrimination they might face.

"The fact you didn't give the child the name you wanted -- your
regrets could be manifested in other ways later on," said Botus. "I
would say, go for it. Just the fact that the mother would have the
insight to have a dilemma, that means she's thinking, and that's one of the most important skills in parenting."

Which way is Goode leaning? She says her daughter likely will end up with a "neutral" name -- Naomi or Layla, perhaps -- that won't signal her race either way.

This is a topic that rally bothers me. I think that any parent, when they name their child, should think about the child's WHOLE life, not just when they are a baby. They have to live with that name forever, unless they go to court and change it. But they have a minimum of 18 years to have that name.

I personally don't like when people name their children baby-ish names like Susie, or Becky, or anything -ie or -y. That sounds so young to me. My mother's name, while kinda grown for a child, is just right for an adult (even though folks butcher it-Valencia).

People have always messed up my name, even though its straight forward. My name has become a common "black" name, even though its actually a European name in origin (Tiana means "princess" in Greek :D). My mother herself though she was being original and created it :rolleyes:. But people mess up by spelling it any ole kinda way (I've even seen Tiyuonna, pronounced the same as mine, tee-AH-na :rolleyes: ).

Spellings of names can mess folks up to. I spelled my daughter's name differently, but I've seen recently the same spelling, but its almost always been with someone of a different culture. I spell her name Jazmin.


http://www.behindthename.com/

http://www.americanbaby.com/ab/babynames/

Real "Black" names

Why did I just go to www.behindthename.com, typed my name in the search engine and the meaning of my name or the name they think it was derived from means "white, fair, blessed." :o See I knew I had one of the whitest names in America.

Since I was in junior high school I've wanted to change my name legally. You know how some people say, "your name fits you"? Well my name doesn't fit me and I'm on a quest to change it.

However, I won't be changing it to Boonqwisha, Alize, Hennessey, Bailey's or Lexus. ;)

LOL. I always wanted to change my last name because I don't think it goes with my first and middle names. But of all my mother's children I have perhaps the easiest name to pronounce.

So right, So true. I think I've posted this before, but I'm an Amber and happen to love that name. I don't believe it sounds white, just sounds like a nice name.

I do believe your going to have to watch your childrens name. I understand there are those on the board who does want to name their children ethic names and that is fine, but don't go overboard. But there of us who are mixed with many races so we just pick names that sounds nice.

not surprised
 

My name, the way it is spelled, is a common Italian name. Yes you heard me right italian. But I know for a fact, my baby cousins have alot of ethnic names and they will find it hard when they get older in the corporate world. My uncle hated me when I said that. But its true. I see it everyday. After college, though my name in spelling is popular for italians, I spent a year out of work. I went on interviews and they thought I was italian when they saw I was black, they were shocked. I went through the interview knowing I will not get a call back.

Wierd world we live in....

When I was recently involved with hiriing at my firm, we talked to a variety of people, and there were some whose names were discussed b/c we didnt know how to pronouce them. Some people really do their kids a disservice by giving them a name that no one can say right. We also had a kid that was from the Check republic, and no one could say his name right. In the end we hired 4 different people, it was kind of like the UN. But, after all that rambling, my point was - we did consider people's names. It was not the only factor, but a unique name catches people's attention, for better or worse.

I do believe that a name can hurt you if you're outrageous. Just because you have 4 best friends does not mean that you should combine all of their names in order to give it to your child. That's not fair to the kid folks. I'm not saying go and name your child agnes or mildred or something like that...just be reasonable. I happen to like my name: Trista Danielle. Trista is Latin for sorrowful (I don't agree). Danielle means GOD IS MY JUDGE. All my aunts and uncles are Anns, Margarets, Jeans, Patsys, Clotildes, Roberts, Toms, Michaels, Edgars, etc. I understand wanting to be unique, but as I said lets be reasonable. I know a girl who named her little girl LaPrecious DelUnique Talika Scott. I'm sorry but that is entirely too much going on. Okay I'm finished now.

Hi folks,

New GCer here. Just wanted to share a little-known fact with everyone: The demographic with the craziest names on the planet is ... Mormons from Utah!

The Utah Baby Namer

http://www.wesclark.com/ubn/faves.html

My personal faves: Tugdick, Nudity, and VulvaMae. :eek:

oh my gosh.

People do NOT name their children those names....:eek: :mad:

I wholeheartedly believe that names can hurt you. Prime example is MY name.

My name is pretty much one that you would not think is African American (just by my last name). I have no problem getting interviews...but when I walk in...the look of...."How did we let this one get in" appears on thier face.

I discovered that people also donot believe my resume or my qualifications once they SEE me. I spend more time answering questions that are obviously "you lying and we are going to catch you in a lie" type questions then talking about what I can offer the company.

I finally just gave up.

^^^
 

LOL, I know that feeling all too well. What cracks me up is when some interviewers ask me what my GPA was in college :rolleyes: (Even though I graduated in '97, have an MBA, and almost 10 years of experience) knowing FULL WELL that it doesn't have squat to do with the job. LOL I guess they're just trying to "stump" me or can't believe "I'm real".



Jerks.... :mad: