Freakonomics

Most Common Middle-Income White Girl Names

1. Sarah

2. Emily

3. Jessica

4. Lauren

5. Ashley

6. Amanda

7. Megan

8. Samantha

9. Ha

10. Rachel

11. Nicole

12. Taylor

13. Elizabeth

14. Katherine

15. Madison

16. Je

17. Alexandra

18. Brittany

19. Danielle

20. Rebecca

Most Common Low-Income White Girl Names

1. Ashley

2. Jessica

3. Amanda

4. Samantha

5. Brittany

6. Sarah

7. Kayla

8. Amber

9. Megan

10. Taylor

11. Emily

12. Nicole

13. Elizabeth

14. Heather

15. Alyssa

16. Stephanie

17. Je

18. Ha

19. Courtney

20. Rebecca

There is considerable overlap, to be sure. But keep in mind that these are the most common names of all, and consider the size of the data set. The difference between consecutive positions on these lists may represent several hundred or even several thousand children. So if Brittany is number five on the low-income list and number eighteen on the middle-income list, you can be assured that Brittany is a decidedly low-end name. Other examples are even more pronounced. Five names in each category don’t appear at all in the other category’s top twenty. Here are the top five names among high-end and low-end families, in order of their relative disparity with the other category:

Most Common High-End White Girl Names

1. Alexandra

2. Lauren

3. Katherine

4. Madison

5. Rachel

Most Common Low-End White Girl Names

1. Amber

2. Heather

3. Kayla

4. Stephanie

5. Alyssa

And for the boys:

Most Common High-End White Boy Names

1. Benjamin

2. Samuel

3. Jonathan

4. Alexander

5. Andrew

Most Common Low-End White Boy Names

1. Cody

2. Brandon

3. Anthony

4. Justin

5. Robert

Considering the relationship between income and names, and given the fact that income and education are strongly correlated, it is not surprising to find a similarly strong link between the parents’ level of education and the name they give their baby. Once again drawing from the pool of most common names among white children, here are the top picks of highly educated parents versus those with the least education:

Most Common White Girl Names Among High-Education Parents

1. Katherine

2. Emma

3. Alexandra

4. Julia

5. Rachel

Most Common White Girl Names Among Low-Education Parents

1. Kayla

2. Amber

3. Heather

4. Brittany

5. Bria

Most Common White Boy Names Among High-Education Parents

1. Benjamin

2. Samuel

3. Alexander

4. John

5. William

Most Common White Boy Names Among Low-Education Parents

1. Cody

2. Travis

3. Brandon

4. Justin

5. Tyler

The effect is even more pronounced when the sample is widened beyond the most common names. Drawing from the entire California database, here are the names that signify the most poorly educated white parents.

The Twenty White Girl Names

That Best Signify Low-Education Parents*

(Average number of years of mother’s education in parentheses)

1. Angel (11.38)

2. Heaven (11.46)

3. Misty (11.61)

4. Destiny (11.66)

5. Brenda (11.71)

6. Tabatha (11.81)

7. Bobbie (11.87)

8. Brandy (11.89)

9. Destinee (11.91)

10. Cindy (11.92)

11. Jazmine (11.94)

12. Shya

13. Britany (12.05)

14. Mercedes (12.06)

15. Tiffanie (12.08)

16. Ashly (12.11)

17. Tonya (12.13)

18. Crystal (12.15)

19. Brandie (12.16)

20. Brandi (12.17)

If you or someone you love is named Cindy or Brenda and is over, say, forty, and feels that those names did not formerly co

Ten “Jasmines” in Ascending Order of Maternal Education

(Years of mother’s education in parentheses)

1. Jazmine (11.94)

2. Jazmyne (12.08)

3. Jazzmin (12.14)

4. Jazzmine (12.16)

5. Jasmyne (12.18)

6. Jasmina (12.50)

7. Jazmyn (12.77)

8. Jasmine (12.88)

9. Jasmin (13.12)

10. Jasmyn (13.23)

Here is the list of low-education white boy names. It includes the occasional misspelling (Micheal and Tylor), but more common is the nickname-as-proper-name trend.

The Twenty White Boy Names

That Best Signify Low-Education Parents*

(Years of mother’s education in parentheses)

1. Ricky (11.55)

2. Joey (11.65)

3. Jessie (11.66)

4. Jimmy (11.66)

5. Billy (11.69)

6. Bobby (11.74)

7. Joh

8. Larry (11.80)

9. Edgar (11.81)

10. Steve (11.84)

11. Tommy (11.89)

12. Tony (11.96)

13. Micheal (11.98)

14. Ro

15. Randy (12.07)

16. Jerry (12.08)

17. Tylor (12.14)

18. Terry (12.15)

19. Da

20. Harley (12.22)

Now for the names that signify the highest level of parental education. These names don’t have much in common, phonetically or aesthetically, with the low-education names. The girls’ names are in most regards diverse, though with a fair share of literary and otherwise artful touches. A caution to prospective parents who are shopping for a “smart” name: remember that such a name won’t make your child smart; it will, however, give her the same name as other smart kids—at least for a while. (For a much longer and more varied list of girls’ and boys’ names, see Notes)

The Twenty White Girl Names

That Best Signify High-Education Parents*

(Years of mother’s education in parentheses)

1. Lucie

2. Marie-Claire (16.50)

3. Gly

4. Adair (16.36)

5. Meira (16.27)

6. Beatrix (16.26)

7. Clementine (16.23)

8. Philippa (16.21)

9. Aviva (16.18)

10. Fla

11. Rotem (16.08)

12. Oona (16.00)

13. Atara (16.00)

14. Linden (15.94)

15. Waverly (15.93)

16. Zofia (15.88)

17. Pascale (15.82)

18. Eleanora (15.80)

19. Elika (15.80)

20. Neeka (15.77)

Now for the boys’ names that are turning up these days in high-education households. This list is particularly heavy on the Hebrew, with a noticeable trend toward Irish traditionalism.