[name]One[/name] if the largest arguments against offbeat names is that it will make future employment impossible. While this may or may not have been the case 20-30 years ago, I really believe this to be myth anymore (unless of course the name is completely outlandish to the general public like Satan or the like) I went back to work in early [name]June[/name]. I work in a corporate environment. I have coworkers named [name]Turquoise[/name], Wildflower, and [name]Satchel[/name] (man). I have spoken with all of them and they have stated they have never had trouble being successful. [name]How[/name] do you feel on this subject?
I think with the fact that more and more outlandish names are becoming the norm it won’t be that hard for a [name]Rainbow[/name] or a [name]Dove[/name] or a [name]Blue[/name] or whatever to find a job as even a doctor and a lawyer. Also what does the name of a person matter if they’re good at the job?
What name is on top of the letterhead can’t overshadow the details throughout the rest of the resume.
Unfortunately it can and does. It’s not a huge, overriding thing in all circumstances, but it affects things. Sometimes in ways people aren’t even entirely conscious of. Someone may not know why they feel more comfortable choosing [name]Bob[/name] versus Barsanuphius or [name]Barley[/name], but they often do prefer the familiar.
Take a look at these two Freakonomics posts (it’s a radio show based on statistics and stories).
Freakonomics ” Bad News for People With Hard-to-Pronounce Names
Freakonomics ” How Much Does Your Name Matter? A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast
Contrariwise, the story of the brothers named Loser and Winner shows that names are by no means everything!
I think that in most cases it isn’t much of a concern, but I have a feeling that when it is a choice between [name]Misti[/name] and [name]Lauren[/name], that the latter will probably get the job.
I think every name comes with associations and assumptions. Someone’s experience can outshine their name, for sure, but for someone just starting out an outlandish name could either give them an edge or rule them out in a sea of similar resumes. It totally varies depending on the person reviewing the info and the industry involved. In a creative field, [name]Satchel[/name] could easily seem more interesting than [name]James[/name]. In a very conservative office Wildflower might not get an interview. I think that name assumptions are rapidly changing and soon enough most HR people will realize that [name]James[/name] [name]Smith[/name] might just as likely be a woman as a man. In the end an applicant’s personality and poise matters above all else so long as your experience is enough to get you an interview in the first place.
A long time ago, I went to a doctor who had someone in the practice with a name that was already very, very unusual and also spelled krii8yflee. I don’t want to put her real name in here, but it would be on the same shelf as Ahrreggyno. I didn’t get to see her because she was always booked full. She was the best in her specialty in the area and her name didn’t seem to matter. I hope we’re moving away from holding a parent’s decision against their children.
I think the only problem that exists are stereotypes of misspelled/made up names.
In my history class last year, we were going through the First Ladies of the US Presidents up to 1874. When we ran into [name]Letitia[/name], some fairly obnoxious guys in my class blurted, “That’s a black ghetto name!” They were trying to be funny, but it does bring up some issues that even non-name nerds have with names. ([name]Even[/name] though [name]Letitia[/name] is an ancient name with a history of usage.)
My classmates (who know nothing about names) know a name that looks like it came from the inner city (they listed some for me, when I asked, like [name]Jaquan[/name] and Makeisha.) Sadly, these names hold stereotypes of ‘poor black family from inner city’, even if that is almost never the case. It could make employers scrutinize the application more so than if [name]Sophia[/name] or [name]Jacob[/name] was at the top.
But, if it’s an unusual, offbeat name like [name]Isadora[/name] or [name]Evander[/name], I don’t think there will be a problem.
(This might just be the name nerd part of me, but whenever I run into an unusual name (that’s not made up or misspelled), I want to get to know the person. Of course, names don’t matter at all in the scope of whether I become friends with that person, but if an [name]Astrid[/name] is the new girl, it certainly intrigues me.)
IMHO, most employers want to bring in a more diverse work environment. I don’t think names matter that much anymore.
White [name]Mistee[/name] or white [name]Crystyna[/name] or white [name]Persephone[/name] will get a job faster than black [name]Catherine[/name] or black [name]Elizabeth[/name]. It’s not about names, it’s about a color.
I agree with this.
It depends primarily on the field and on the experience and opinions of the person reviewing the resume.
I work in tandem with a creative field and know several people with interesting names, however, on the financial side of it, I know my boss would likely scoff at names she considered “silly”.
However, there’s just as high of a chance that she’d turn down someone who had the same name as someone else in the department–just because it’s annoying to deal with!
Of course, all of this would depend on how good the resume was. I doubt anyone would turn down a perfect fit just because of a name, but given 2 similar resumes, it might be a factor in who got called and who didn’t.
This exactly.
However, I have heard the argument that it is relevant in terms of race. In cases where a hiring manager is racist, and a name denotes a certain ethnicity/background/origin/heritage/whathaveyou, the name can have an impact. Also, in cases where a manager is slightly biased in a direction, though not openly/incredibly opposed to a certain race, it could potentially tip the scale.
This hasn’t happened in my experience. But I’m a middle class white girl. Still, all of my work environments have been incredibly balanced in terms of diversity, and I firmly believe that racism is one of those dying, socially unacceptable things that will fade away almost entirely in the next twenty years or so.
It depends on the name. Weird but acceptable, like nature names ([name]Lilac[/name], [name]Onyx[/name]) or obscure names ([name]Euphemia[/name] or [name]Tiberius[/name]) are viewed more highly than M’Kynn’[name]Zee[/name] or [name]Ah[/name]'Mirakal.
Not if [name]Crystyna[/name] and [name]Mistee[/name]'s resumes are thrown in the trash because the employer assumes they are lower class Blacks. Your resume is seen long before you get a face-to-face interview (if you get one). Or if an employer is seeking diversity, they may mistakenly ignore [name]Catherine[/name] and [name]Elizabeth[/name]'s resumes and offer interviews to [name]Crystyna[/name] and [name]Mistee[/name]
This is absolutely crazy but true. If “equal opportunity employers” really are what they say they are, they will not judge job applicants based on their names. [name]Plenty[/name] of people defy name stereotypes. For example, I have met two or three different people named [name]Princess[/name] who were all very capable professionals.
I think it depends on the profession.
I think a lot of names have more of a class connotation than anything, and we’re not nearly as mobile a society as we like to think. If I saw [name]Crystyna[/name]'s application, I wouldn’t necessarily associate that with black or white, but I would not associate it with an MBA either. On the other hand, [name]Crystyna[/name] who got her [name]GED[/name] probably isn’t applying for the same job as [name]Catherine[/name] with the MBA. And frankly, if I saw a name that I did associate strongly with not-white, I’d probably grant an extra point in favor of interviewing just because I don’t want to be accused of profiling.
The same here, I have known people [not necessarily co-workers] that I talk to in my job named: [name]Michael[/name] [female], [name]Christian[/name] [female], [name]Sunshine[/name] [female], [name]Emerson[/name] [male], [name]Athena[/name], and others. While it’s a bit of a surprise when some say their names, I don’t think as far as I know they had problems with jobs.
Names shouldn’t matter when it comes to employment. Most people didn’t even choose their own name, their parents did. They can’t help what their parents chose to name them, unless they want to legally change it, or go by a nickname. But some people like their different names. Some people change their names because they don’t like how common/popular the name is. It doesn’t matter if your name is the normal and common [name]Anne[/name], the religious [name]Benjamin[/name], or the unusual [name]Stormy[/name], it shouldn’t affect your education, job, or how much you get paid. The only thing that should really affect you getting hired is a criminal record, or you’re a lazy worker/ not enough education. Names, looks, etc shouldn’t matter. We now live in a world where people color their hair purple, pierce body parts like tongues and eyebrows, and name kids after words… it’s becoming the new ‘normal’.
Purple hair and pierced tongues and eyebrows will never be accepted in the white collar world. It’s still not “normal” for the majority of people, either.
I use to work in recruitment, and would often see resumes from people with ‘unusual’ (read not English) names who also added an Anglicised name that they went by at work. It always made me a little bit sad that the candidate felt they needed to do that, but my (awful) manager actually recommended people do this because, in her own words ‘The people hiring will be too embarrassed to call them if they can’t pronounce their name.’ So sadly some people do judge applicants based on their names.
If I had the chance though I’d guess or make up a pronounciation when she asked what a name was. If I said it with enough confidence, & gave her a certain ‘I can’t believe you even had to ask that’ look, she’d worry about appearing less knowledgable than me, say “oh, yes of course”, and call them!
I agree with this.