Can Having an Unusual Name Keep You from Being Employed?

Parents who are deciding on what name their child even before it is born may want to strongly consider that child's potential for success in the future.

Employers who see unusual, bizarre, or downright weird names at the top of resumes and applications make their decision about hiring a person before even meeting that person. Why? Because the more conservative and traditional a person's name is, the better chances that person has of getting a good paying job and moving up the corporate ladder.

Let's face it, people who are born with the name Seventh Heaven Snowflake Smith probably won't even get much respect in school, never mind the workplace. But some people insist on giving their children weird names in an attempt to make that child "stand out" from all the others to the point of making that child a center of attention, and usually the wrong attention at that. It's not just first names, either, since one can have a classic first name, like I do, but an impossible to pronounce last name, like I do. In the article from CNN.com, Colleen Rzucidlo admits to having such a last name that would scare most employers away. People with ethnic names on the resumes also get turned aside, despite the government's Affirmative Action program that requires all employers to list a self-identification section on an employment application, even though it is not mandatory for a prospective employee to fill that section out (I know I never do). But if you have a nice Anglo-Saxon name like John Smith, Mary Jones, or Bill Campbell, then you are more likely to get the executive financial job than with a German or Slavic name that is impossible to pronounce.

On the positive side, a person with a truly bizarre name can go to the courts and change it upon the age of 16 in most states. Parents who name their child something like Schnookums Hookums do not do their offspring any favors at all, and sixteen years can be an eternity for a child with a name like that. If an adult has been bestowed with a weird name, or one that sounds too much like a famous actor or musician, then it is probably better to change it to John Smith or Mary Adams. Thinking that a baby is some rare snowflake from seventh heaven won't do much for his or her success if a weird name is given then he or she can never get decent employment.