steryotypical name article

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-09-2005
steryotypical name article
4
Sun, 03-11-2007 - 12:10pm

Was searching African names for a story I am writing and googled the name Imani and came across this article. I found it interesting, but INCREDIBLY steryotypical and I had to say I disagree on many counts. Just thought I would post it if anyone is interested.

http://www.willisms.com/archives/2005/04/trivia_tidbit_o_22.html

Most Popular High-End White Girl Names in the 1990s
1. Alexandra
2. Lauren
3. Katherine
4. Madison
5. Rachel

Most Popular Low-End White Girl Names in the 1990s
1. Amber
2. Heather
3. Kayla
4. Stephanie
5. Alyssa

Most Popular High-End White Boy Names
1. Benjamin
2. Samuel
3. Jonathan
4. Alexander
5. Andrew

Most Popular Low-End White Boy Names
1. Cody
2. Brandon
3. Anthony
4. Justin
5. Robert

The 20 Whitest Girl Names
1. Molly
2. Amy
3. Claire
4. Emily
5. Katie
6. Madeline
7. Katelyn
8. Emma
9. Abigail
10. Carly
11. Jenna
12. Heather
13. Katherine
14. Caitlin
15. Kaitlin
16. Holly
17. Allison
18. Kaitlyn
19. Hannah
20. Kathryn

The 20 Blackest Girl Names
1. Imani
2. Ebony
3. Shanice
4. Aaliyah
5. Precious
6. Nia
7. Deja
8. Diamond
9. Asia
10. Aliyah
11. Jada
12. Tierra
13. Tiara
14. Kiara
15. Jazmine
16. Jasmin
17. Jazmin
18. Jasmine
19. Alexus
20. Raven

The 20 Whitest Boy Names
1. Jake
2. Connor
3. Tanner
4. Wyatt
5. Cody
6. Dustin
7. Luke
8. Jack
9. Scott
10. Logan
11. Cole
12. Lucas
13. Bradley
14. Jacob
15. Garrett
16. Dylan
17. Maxwell
18. Hunter
19. Brett
20. Colin

The 20 Blackest Boy Names
1. DeShawn
2. DeAndre
3. Marquis
4. Darnell
5. Terrell
6. Malik
7. Trevon
8. Tyrone
9. Willie
10. Dominique
11. Demetrius
12. Reginald
13. Jamal
14. Maurice
15. Jalen
16. Darius
17. Xavier
18. Terrance
19. Andre
20. Darryl

Most Popular Girl Crossover Names
1. Andrea
2. Whitney
3. Alicia
4. Kendra
5. Alexandria
6. Natasha
7. Tiffany
8. Brittany
9. Amber
10. Talia
11. Erika
12. Brianna
13. Ariel
14. Gabrielle
15. Veronica
16. Alana
17. Kyra
18. Ashley
19. Breanna
20. Erica

Most Popular Boy Crossover Names
1. Vincent
2. George
3. Troy
4. Christian
5. Martin
6. Corey
7. Brandon
8. Eric
9. Craig
10. Frank
11. Cameron
12. Shawn
13. Micah
14. Gregory
15. Nathaniel
16. Marc
17. Aaron
18. Dominic
19. Theodore
20. Isaac


                             
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-28-2004
Sun, 03-11-2007 - 2:20pm
I think it's interesting and good to know, but, um, why is it stereotypical if it's been derived from statistics and is true??
Valerie
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-01-2006
Sun, 03-11-2007 - 3:12pm

I have a Darius and he is whiter than white. lol :) I will say that I get a lot of "oh, that's interesting" as in I don't know what else to say because I've never heard that name on a white boy before. Whatever.

KT

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-13-2006
Sun, 03-11-2007 - 6:48pm

I was wondering that as well...

Someone didn't just make up these lists -- the book this is from is all about looking at social phenomena using statistical analysis. These were derived from actual US government data.

The book is really interesting and a quick read. Some of the name data is rather flawed, though, according to the woman who created the Baby Name Voyager and wrote the Baby Name Wizard. Her take on it is also really interesting: http://thebabynamewizard.ivillage.com/parenting/archives/2005/05/names_race_and_economists.html

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-09-2005
Sun, 03-11-2007 - 6:51pm
I hadn't looked over the article very closely, just the names, and had assumed that someone had simply made them up, which gave me the steryotypical idea.