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The BBC has an article about how a name can affect someone throughout their life. One table shows the chance of attending Oxford with a given name, and a graph shows the downward trend of naming children one of the top 50 most popular names.
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(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday April 12 2014, @12:36AM
From the article:
" One study found that psychiatric patients with more unusual names tended to be more disturbed. "
From the novel Silence of the Lambs:
" Jame Gumb [poster's note: Jame Gumb is the canonical 'real name' of serial-killer Buffalo Bill, who performed the infamous "tuck scene" in the movie] was born in California in 1949, and was abandoned at birth by his mother. His mother was an alcoholic prostitute, who had named him James Gumb, but upon signing his birth certificate incorrectly spelled the name James, and it was left signed as Jame Gumb."
And in that novel, Jame never bothers to correct his name, insisting on being called "Jame."
But more ontopic - the Oxford table showed the top and bottom 10 names for getting into Oxford and guess what? The top-ten names are very regal, British/European-sounding names, proper. The bottom-ten reek of being American trash abominations, like "Danny" instead of the proper "Daniel," and oh God "Kayleigh." "Kayleigh," a name only a redneck could name their kid, believing that spelling it in that obnoxious manner wouldn't later be detrimental to its bearer -- it smacks of the desperately random elaboration of a bad liar*.
* phrase inspired by a Hannibal Lecter quote in the above novel/movie
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 12 2014, @01:22AM
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday April 12 2014, @01:37AM
The only overlap is that Silence of the Lambs makes reference to a serial killer having an "abnormal" name, as the article states that psychiatric patients with unusual names tend to be more disturbed.
It does not reference the table. Your confusion could be due to the fact that I forgot or fucked up a closing italic tag, swallowing the rest of the post with italics which weren't meant to be. But now that you mention it, it could lead to methods of human fuzzing or forced association. Or I'm drunk.
(Score: 3, Funny) by khallow on Saturday April 12 2014, @02:17AM
"Kayleigh," a name only a redneck could name their kid, believing that spelling it in that obnoxious manner wouldn't later be detrimental to its bearer -- it smacks of the desperately random elaboration of a bad liar*.
Nah, they probably just live in North Carolina. State capitol is spelled "Raleigh".