<p>Goodness, I just read through the entire thread, which ought to be a prerequisite for posting, but oh well…</p>
<p>With last names starting with B (mine) and T(husband’s), we have had many conversations about the difference in h.s. between sitting so close I could count a teacher’s nose hairs (too close to doodle or sleep peacefully through a bad class) vs. his being seated by chart in the back of the room, watching everyone else misbehave while he stared at the clock which seemed to have glue poured into its gears.</p>
<p>We never thought about it, but the first names of our three kids start with J. L, and I.</p>
<p>I’d rather see research on most popular names vs. unusual ones; or classical names vs. trendy.</p>
<p>It must have been 23 years ago, when I was with a couple naming their daughter. While they liked the name Amy, they chose Ann, because they couldn’t imagine a future judge with Amy as the name. These parents were both professionals. When I was in court last month, with a judge Amy, that early conversation came back to me.</p>
<p>HAHA, I knew someone named Columbia who was rejected by Columbia. I also knew someone with the name Princeton, oddly enough he attended Columbia.</p>
<p>Emory would work. Brown would work. Carleton would be fine. I know 2 people with the first name Smith. But we can all agree, You’d have to be a real nutjob to name your kid New York University:-)</p>
<p>Of course most of those names should work, they came from people who donated to the school at its inception. I would rather see people name their kids after St.XXX, imagine getting an application with the name St.Peter, St. Andrew, or St. John.</p>
<p>Hmmm. So first names beginning with “A” translate into academic success? Like "A"lbert Einstein? Maybe we’re on to something here. Oh, wait, a minute – he failed math . . . twice. Nevermind.</p>
<p>^By the way, this is a joke. As I recollect, he actually didn’t flunk math, but he did get a poor grade in a physics course, of all things. Go figure . . .</p>
<p>^^I find this factoid about Einstein so encouraging since I got a D in physics. And yet, there’s still time in my life for me to make a major discovery, too, since 56 is the new 46. HEY, maybe that’s it, mathematical age relativity!!!</p>
<p>Well at least I know an example: my friend Arnav, who is a two time IMOer… But in Harvard it seemed like the name really varied… and… asian names don’t actually start with the A… so</p>
<p>Reddune–many (if not most) Catholics DO name their kids after saints, they just leave off the St. part.</p>
<p>I’d like to see a study on astrological signs. My single-parent mom was an Aries and my only sibling was a Libra. My two kids are an Aries and a Libra. When I list my close friends and relatives, they turn out to be mostly one of four signs.</p>
<p>I think the main thing here is that people are looking at this study and thinking letter naming correlates with causation. In all likelihood, the probability of an “A” name just tracks some demographic trait which leads to academic achievement. It might be interesting to look at the level of correlation between each letter and grades and the top 20 names for each letter. I’d guess a common male first letter like “J” would be very near to average simply because it occupies such a large portion of names (John, James, Justin, Jason).</p>
<p>Not that I think the study is valid, but as I understood the article, the association (at least in the first example cited) was only with C and D initials and lower than average GPAs. The folks with A and B initials were the same GPA as the rest of the alphabet. It just seems that people with C and D initials are less bothered by seeing their initials on their report cards.</p>
<p>To me, the mind’s capacity for seeing associations is the interesting notion. My screen name is related to the initials of the three boys in my family. I grew up in a family of kids all with identical initials, and we were known as the three S’s. Our middle initials were all K’s. I married a K, named our first son after my favorite name from my brother’s middle name beginning with a K, and now we have 3Ks. I also thought it was a fun screen name because our oldest is a pitcher, and we’re fond of 3Ks. There you have it. Or not.</p>
<p>Oh, and I will add that when I married, I went to the front of the alphabet. I never thought I was missing anything before, but there really are benefits to being at the front of the order.</p>
<p>If you seat your students by an alphabet chart, won’t you please be the one to create your list from Z-to-A and get some Zimmerman’s up in the front row. Put a few Armitage’s up in the nosebleed gallery. </p>
<p>Maybe turn the pile of papers upside down and start marking the “W’s” when you’re still in a good mood. </p>
<p>I know a girl named Ivy.
She goes to Brown.
Coincidence??? I think not!</p>
<p>Do AFrican-Americans have a better chance of getting in than ASian-Americans? Or is it when you call them Black that you get into the problems… But Black is higher up than Chinese?</p>
<p>Yael can be either a combination of names of God, or the name of a graceful antelope, depending on how it is spelled in Hebrew. But the men named Yale probably have the Jewish name Yoel, or in English, Joel, as in the name of that prophet</p>
<p>Paying Three I don’t seat the end of the alphabet in the back, but I remember when my teacher’s did. I was a B and always close to the front. Actually there isn’t much of a “back” in my classroom since I wander.</p>