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posted by martyb on Wednesday May 07 2014, @02:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the John-J-J-Schmidt dept.

In light of two recent studies, expecting parents might consider doing a little social engineering when naming their children. New evidence suggests if you're trying to convey intelligence the more middle initials in your name, the smarter people will assume you to be.

Also, if you want to be trusted more, use a first name that everyone can pronounce. That effect seems to be in line with another study (not peer-reviewed) indicating short first names correlate with higher earnings.

Perhaps one should combine the two and just use initials for all but the surname, like J.P. Morgan?

 
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by SuddenOutbreak on Wednesday May 07 2014, @04:48PM

    by SuddenOutbreak (3961) on Wednesday May 07 2014, @04:48PM (#40590)

    The landed gentry often have several middle names as well as double, triple or even quadruple barreled surnames.

    You mention an interesting point: the study took place using students at the University of Limerick in Ireland. They would have much more contact with "landed gentry" with a lot of middle names and titles, and would be more likely influenced by that than someone in the US, Canada or maybe even Australia would.

    The results of the study might not transfer very far outside of the British Isles.

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  • (Score: 1) by redneckmother on Wednesday May 07 2014, @06:45PM

    by redneckmother (3597) on Wednesday May 07 2014, @06:45PM (#40625)

    "You mention an interesting point: the study took place using students at the University of Limerick in Ireland. They would have much more contact with "landed gentry" with a lot of middle names and titles, and would be more likely influenced by that than someone in the US, Canada or maybe even Australia would."

    So true! In my (red)neck of the woods, multiple middle initials usually brand someone as "a pompous ass with pompous parents".

    --
    Mas cerveza por favor.