What makes a successful person? There are a lot of characteristics that contribute to that. But what about their names? Some parents may be looking to give their child a name that may increase their chances of success.
The team at Allsorter, a resume formatting company analyzed 1000 of the world’s largest companies and found that of the 1000 companies, only 64 (6.4%) of the company CEOs were women. Meanwhile, 936 (93.6%) were male. Originally, they were aiming to find the most common names for CEOs. But when they compiled a list of the most “common” names with the intention of finding the most “successful” names, they realized only six female names appeared more than once.
What name tops the list of most successful names?
In the list of names that were analyzed, Sarah managed to snag a spot not just once, but three times. Barbara, Jennifer, Laura, and Anna also made a solid showing with two appearances each.
Now, when it comes to the men, David stole the spotlight by appearing a whopping 34 times. Michael wasn’t too far behind with 32 appearances, followed by John and Robert with 24 each. The name James had 22 appearances, while Richard rounded out the list with 18 appearances.
What are some of the other most successful names? Take a look at the full list here.
6 Baby Names You Probably Should Avoid
Messiah
In 2013, a child support magistrate in East Tennessee ruled that a 7-month-old boy named Messiah must have his name changed to Martin. “The word ‘Messiah’ is a title, and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person, and that one person is Jesus Christ,” said Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew.
Adolf Hitler
In 2009, New Jersey parents Heath and Deborah Campbell were taken into state custody after authorities got involved in a cake incident. A bakery refused to decorate a cake with the words “Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler.” The Campbell’s gave their three children Nazi-inspired names including Adolf Hitler . Though the state said that their names were not the reason, it’s been reported that the parents didn’t believe them.
Allah
In 2018, Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk of Georgia sued their home state after officials refused to let them name their daughter ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah. The issue was Allah, the two-year-old girl’s last name. Georgia law requires that children bear the last name of at least one of their parents. The parents won the case, with the help of lawyers from the ACLU.
1069
In 1976, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that short-order cook and high school teacher Michael Herbert Dengler could not change his name to “1069.”
Santa Claus
In December 1999, Robert William Handley of Ohio filed a petition to change his name to Santa Robert Claus. Judge Lawrence Belskis denied his petition saying that “the public has a proprietary interest, a proprietary right in the identity of Santa Claus, both in the name and the persona.”
III
A 1984 ruling from the California Courts of Appeal denied a request from Thomas Boyd Ritchie III to change his name to the Roman numeral “III,” pronounced “Three.” The court said that, “a change to a roman numeral did not constitute a name change within the meaning of the law and that the new ‘name’ used by appellant was inherently confusing.”
