Do "Bad Names" For Boys Doom Them to a Life of Crime?

Are you dooming your children by giving them "bad" names? Maybe so, according to this interesting study by David Kalist of Shippensburg University about the problem of "feminine" names for boys:

... Shippensburg (Pa.) University professor David Kalist's report in Social Science Quarterly shows that "unpopular names are likely not the cause of crime," he explains that factors often associated with those names can "increase the tendency toward juvenile delinquency."

Boys with unpopular, girlish or uncommon names often are ridiculed by peers, come from families of low socioeconomic status and face discrimination in the workforce based on a preconceived bias about their names, according to the study, which analyzed more than 15,000 names.

Link

Oh, and the top 10 "bad-boy" names? Here they are: Alec, Ernest, Garland, Ivan, Kareem, Luke, Malcolm, Preston, Tyrell, and Walter.

Previously on Neatorama: 10 Strangest Names EVAR!


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The study stated the following: "Unpopular names are likely not the cause of crime but correlated with factors that increase the tendency toward juvenile delinquency, such as a disadvantaged home environment and residence in a county with low socioeconomic status." Therefore, it's not the name, its the condition of the environment. Shame on David Katlist and anyone else for indicating otherwise!
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My husbands name is Jotham, he hates it(though I love it) and growing up he took plenty of crap for it but he grew up to be a respectable and well mannered man. I'm sure it's in how someone was raised, I've known a few too many bad Davids, Mikes and Johns.
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