<p>OK, here’s the next big thing in grooming your kids for the Ivy League: give them names starting with “A”. Newsweek reports on research done at UCSD and Yale:
<p>Well, my daughter’s name starts with A, and believe me she would be thrilled if her mid-term grade report had contained a few more grades that matched her name. </p>
<p>Yet another great piece of research disproved by a single data point.</p>
<p>I don’t know about first names, but I definitely concur about last names. My maiden name started with a Z. I suffered all my academic life from being last on the list, the last to take any oral examination when the profs were fed up and exhausted. I made a great stride forward by marrying Mr W. My kids have suffered as much as I did, and have often told me that given my past, it was a premeditated crime designed to make their scolastic life a nightmare, and how tough would it have been to come up with Adrian Aardvark as a hubby?</p>
<p>Cute article. While I never imagined that one’s initials would steer one toward any preferences, I do know many couples with the same first initials (including H & myself.) We even have friends named Tony & Toni — very confusing.</p>
<p>Names DO matter. It would be cruel to give one’s D a name that would fit the bill at a strip joint. Or seem silly after she grew out of adolesence. Initials are important, too. I HATED my initials growing up. And my brothers & I all shared the same annoying acronym.</p>
<p>I never realized until after I went from a W to an A what an elevating experience it could be to be at the beginning of the alphabet!
Stickershock- BJ?</p>
<p>Not BJ!!! MOB. My friend had the initials PP, which was worse, I guess. And yes, it is nice to have moved way up in the alphabet, although I gave up a beautiful Irish surname to do so.</p>
<p>There are lots of Bad initials, BS, TB, even MT. The kid who gets better grades in my house is very close to the front of the alphabet, but if I’m going to blame it on pseudo-science I prefer the oldest child theory. :)</p>
<p>That explains why “Aaaaaaaaaalvin!” was the smartest of the Chipmunks. Or maybe Theodore was smarter, since he wore glasses. That should be studied, as well.</p>
<p>7 NMSF’s in my d’s class this year: Three have the same first name beginning with A. And it’s an old fashioned, and fairly uncommon name. Very strange.</p>
<p>You know with the latest trends to get your child into college…pretty soon parents are gonna start naming their kids NAMES of colleges. In the musical, Avenue Q, there is a character by the name of “Princeton.” I knew a “Yale” growing up. So, start looking for kids named “Harvard” or “Stanford” or having the initials like “MIT”. Some schools may not work so well, though, LOL. Bates may work. Wesleyan may too. Stanford, Emory, Carleton, Smith, Williams, Colgate or Cornell all may pass. Not so sure about Middlebury, Tufts, Swarthmore, Pomona, or New York University. :D</p>
<p>For the record, my kids got good grades and their first names are in the second half of the alphabet. Oh well.</p>
<p>My maiden name started with A, and that meant: I sat in the front of the class, had to give oral book reports first, and got called on more frequently than others.</p>
<p>As an incredibly shy kid, this was torture for me at the time, but looking back, it forced me to speak up when I never would have volunteered myself.</p>
<p>I married a “middle of the alphabet” guy, so my kids have never had to deal with this.</p>
<p>Funny. Both of my kids have first and middle initials of AA (no the last name doesn’t begin with A and no we don’t have any alcoholics in our household either). I think the AA was probably more of a result of the better sound of an Alliterative name.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for us, the grade thing isn’t consistent.</p>
<p>In d’s hs graduating class, the valedictorian’s name started with M and the salutatorian’s name started with J. The M is at Princeton, I believe, and the J is at Harvard.</p>
<p>I wonder- do parents go through baby books start with the A-s for their first kid (hmmmmm- wonder how many of these kids in the study were first born)- anyway, parents see a name in the As and go, k we are done!!!</p>