Martha Stewart's blog is always amusing. Check out her Hampton home.
A new US study, recently published in Social Science Quarterly, has shown that the more uncommon or feminine a boy's first name is, the greater the likelihood that he will end up in prison. (via Metafilter and JT)
I'm trying out Tweetdeck to organize the social networking time-suck.
I just heard a dad call to his son "River" in the grocery store.
Posted by: MH | July 14, 2009 at 03:47 PM
"...the more uncommon or feminine a boy's first name is, the greater the likelihood that he will end up in prison."
Oops.
Posted by: Amy P | July 14, 2009 at 05:21 PM
Haven't looked up the original, but the press release suggests that this is a stupid study -- that name is just a correlate for other characteristics.
But, not sure how to reconcile that with "Alec" being a "bad" name. Really, Alec's are more likely to be in prison?
(and, this does not make me more concerned about my son's unusual first name.)
Posted by: bj | July 14, 2009 at 07:50 PM
Alec = Evil; Alex = Good? I'm not sure.
I had always thought I avoided prison because my parents raised me right, but now I guess I'll just have to attribute it to them giving me the most common name possible.
Posted by: MH | July 14, 2009 at 08:39 PM
Anyway, it seems a bit off to me. I remember News of the Weird used to collect instances of murders with the name "John Wayne" and there were always new ones.
Posted by: MH | July 14, 2009 at 08:50 PM
We have hippie friends who named their kid Becuzaliz. He calls himself Joe. I guess they should save for bail instead of college.
Posted by: Lisa V | July 14, 2009 at 10:32 PM
"I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
And I come away with a different point of view.
And I think about him, now and then,
Every time I try and every time I win,
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him...
Bill or George! Anything but Sue!"
Johnny Cash told us this 40 years ago...
Posted by: Doug | July 15, 2009 at 01:28 AM