An Apple By Any Other Name

Sticks and stones can break your bones but… names can make you commit crimes?

By Christina Hurtado Posted 02.05.2009 at 5:51 pm 7 Comments

Criminal Kid iStockPhoto

A few weeks ago, some kids in New Jersey were removed from their home by Child Protective Services because their parents named them after Nazis. When the story got out, their dad told reporters that he didn’t think there was anything wrong with naming a kid Adolf Hitler Campbell. The media coverage around this story created an interesting new controversy. Is giving your child a bad name really a form of abuse? Social scientists from Shippensburg University say yes.

David E. Kalist and Daniel Y. Lee just published an article in Social Science Quarterly linking juvenile crime to the popularity of the youth’s name. The researchers created a popularity-name index (PN1) which allowed them to give an empirical value to each name. The higher the PNI value, the more popular the name. The PN1 for Michael, which was the most common name in the study, is 100, while names like Alec, Ernest and Malcolm had a PN1 of one.

Race did not necessarily play a factor, as Kalist and Yee found similar results among test subjects of diverse racial backgrounds. Kalist and Yee instead believe that, while names themselves do not cause their bearers to commit crimes, more unusual names are often associated with factors that lead to juvenile delinquency, such as disadvantaged home environments (single parents, low socio-economic status and residency issues). Low PN1 individuals may be more susceptible to bullying at young ages, and thus have difficulty forming relationships. Kalist and Yee hypothesize that these individuals act out, consciously or unconsciously, because they dislike their own names.

I am reminded of a girl I went to high school with. Her name was Galaxy Starcruiser. I kid you not. Her parents were avid Trekkies and thought naming their child after a spaceship was a good idea. I remember her as being an anti-social, bitter girl, and a small part of me wonders if she ever ended up in jail.

Of course, celebrities give their kids all kinds of crazy names. In a few years, little Harlow, Rocco, and Suri will be old enough to follow in Paris’ wayward footsteps (and just look at how polished and successful Nikki Hilton is). Violet Affleck—you sound sweet: it will be up to you to save us from your peers.

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7 Comments

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taylorhengen

from New York, New York

02/05/09 at 5:57 pm

I knew a bunch of hippie kids with names like Winter, Peace, and Hope who were all calm and well-adjusted. But that may have been because they lived at an Ashram in Northern New England...

Um, Galaxy Starcruiser: if you're out there, give us a "where is she now"!

Lastly-- it only costs like $40 and a trip to a courthouse (the judges could care less, I promise), to change your name. So, if you hate it enough to hurt somebody, just go nip the problem in the bud.

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larryv

02/05/09 at 6:45 pm

She has a brother named Mars and lived in Iowa. Man the things the internet can find.

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Portillo

from piscataway, NJ

02/06/09 at 12:20 am

Too bad that one guy had to ruin that name for everyone... I don't see anything wrong with the actual name... it was just that person.. what if his parents named him Mike or Bob or something like that? Would that name be taboo forever?

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DDTx2

from Caracas, Miranda

02/06/09 at 9:02 am

When I had to decide about the name of my kids, I started to think about this, and this article confirms what I suspected by years.

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Neoatg

02/06/09 at 3:17 pm

For shame Popular Science. There is no evidence that they were taken for there names. If They were taken away for there names don't you think these attention seeking parents would of been on every media outlet they could find Screaming about how unfair it all is.

Unless you have a new source that got a reason out of the state or parents it's all asumeing that they were removed for there names.

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singinglifeguardx

02/08/09 at 12:19 pm

well, when you really think about it... this is just too ridiculous that it's funny. Who in their right mind would name their child after one of the most gruesome people of the 20th century?
I can understand if someone names their child 'Lego" or "KY" if they really wanted to poke fun at the corporate market.
But honestly, imagine how much this child is suffering at school when they play Cops & Robbers. "Hitler is it! RUN FOR YOU LIVES, HE MIGHT GAS YOU!" and this would be even more comedic if the child has really bad gas and ate beans very frequently.
To be honest, any parents who name their child after such a wicked person, should be detained and asked "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"
I wouldn't name my child "Darth Sidious" cause the day we go to a Star Wars convention, he'll get beat up!
Then again, when you really think about it... the name Adolf Hitler is closely related to "Hate Crime" and they were probably taken away for being white surpemisists, on top of that, maybe they did something along those lines.

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Guesser

02/09/09 at 3:13 pm

I believe that Malcolm Gladwell in one of his books talked about two brother one named Loser, and the other Winner. Loser - called Lou by friends became a police officer. Winner became a criminal. But is that scientific evidence?