What's in a Name? #148

Stereotypes about names abound: a masculine name makes one more masculine and a stereotypical feminine name makes one more feminine. But names aren’t destiny; there are just too many other things that impact a person more. Nor does the name create a self-fulfilling prophecy. We all know people with a masculine/feminine name who don't fall into that narrow band of what we perceive is masculine or feminine. I guess names don’t matter all that much.

We all know that the popularity of baby names changes. I have attended dozens of graduation ceremonies and believe me, if you’ve seen one graduation ceremony you’ve seen them all. I often scan the names counting how many times “Mark” comes up. Informally, since 2003, I have counted only one “Mark” in a specific class. What goes around comes around, but for now, “Mark” is an old person’s name. 

However, the reason for the name as a topic is that I came across some surprising research about the power of names. Until 1978 all hurricanes were given feminine names and since then they alternated between traditional men’s and women’s names. Did that make a difference? 

Surprisingly, the answer is yes. According to the google, people generally view storms with feminine names as less intense and dangerous. And the google also says that people are more likely to evacuate or take shelter from hurricanes with masculine names. Therefore, hurricanes in America that had feminine names had significantly higher death tolls because the stereotype results in lower preparedness and unwillingness to evacuate. So maybe a name does make a difference.