Friday, November 12, 2010

Efforts to push female names

SciAm reports:
A recent study finds that despite our efforts for parity between the sexes, male names still come first when referring to a couple.

Brad and Angelina. Romeo and Juliet. John, Yoko. See a pattern? We may have come a long way baby, but our female names still typically follow the man’s name.

Researchers searched the Web for 10 pairs of popular names and found that in 79 percent of the pairs the male name came first. Only 21 percent put the female name first. The research is published in the British Journal of Social Psychology.
Who is SciAm speaking for with "our efforts"? Is there a coordinated campaign to get people to say "Angelina and Brad"?

Some feminists are applying such silly ideas to their own kids:
"Our nontraditional boys' names reflect our own desire to raise sons who will be as comfortable pushing dolls in strollers as pushing trucks."

Their choice: Maxfield. “We liked it that the name carried no image of masculinity, that it would free him from all preconceptions and let people see him as unique,” Richmond said. ...

Paxton was the 12th fastest-rising boys’ name in 2009. The other biggest risers for that year were all in the new group of boys’ names:

1. Cullen
2. Jax
3. King
4. Emmett
5. Colt
6. Braylen
7. Jett
8. Kason
9. Jasper
10. Brooks
It could be worse. The top baby name in Europe now is Mohammed.

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