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Help[Opinions] Re: When naming a child, how much do you worry about how the name will sound on a resume someday?
in reply to a message by ChanaRose
In my experience, I think you're unlikely to have to worry about a name on a CV - however I live in the UK, and I think we're possinly less judgemental about that than, for example, the US. I do think the UK has growing issues with racism/right-wing pundits spreading racism, in general, I wouldn't say we have no racism or exceptionally low racism (no places do imho) BUT I think a lot of places have less than in some noteable other countries. I live near London for further context. And I think in big metropolitan areas, yeah, you're gonna get rubbish people BUT the majority of people will be very accepting if not appreciative of other cultures and their traditions. It would be pretty insane to not hire someone just because of their cultural name.
Because UK metro areas are so diverse, and the majority of the population so accepting of diversity, most people wouldn't blink an eyelid at a cultural name, it would actually be kinda weird to be funny about someone's name imho. I did a seminar at my job recently about diversity and we talked about names, and it was interesting the range of name origins / name structures people in my workplace had - some had no surname (father's name), some had no formal first name (e.g. Burmese names), some had a cultural name and went by an English nickname, some had multiple cultural names and went by a middle given name, some had names from multiple different cultures, some had translated their name, I could go on... ultimately though, we all work in the same place and some of them earn a lot more than me, so ultimately I think the only thing anyone cared about was we called them the right name.
Spelling and pronounciation are more of an issue than how it looks on a CV imho.
The one exception I'd say is names that aren't necessarily cultural but seen as more 'modern/trendy/faddy/non-name-like' like Princess, Baby, Cherry, Diamond, Honey, I think people would find them a bit embarassing and judge the bearer before they met them... but I don't think it'd stop Princess or Jaqlynn or Cupcake getting the job if they got an interview based on qualifications and then blew it out of the park. And because 'previewing' my message made me think of it, UK Placenames like London, Brighton, Bristol etc. would probably get laughed at a lot, it still wouldn't stop the right person getting the right job, but they might get laughed at and it'd get more of a negative reaction than a cultural name. On the other hand, cultural names from Khadijah to Ayo to Faraji to Shirin to Ha-Jun wouldn't raise an eyebrow anywhere outside of really rural UK, let alone look bad on a CV or stop anyone from getting the job if they were the best candidate *
* All names of people I (have) work(ed) with, one of whom was my boss!
Because UK metro areas are so diverse, and the majority of the population so accepting of diversity, most people wouldn't blink an eyelid at a cultural name, it would actually be kinda weird to be funny about someone's name imho. I did a seminar at my job recently about diversity and we talked about names, and it was interesting the range of name origins / name structures people in my workplace had - some had no surname (father's name), some had no formal first name (e.g. Burmese names), some had a cultural name and went by an English nickname, some had multiple cultural names and went by a middle given name, some had names from multiple different cultures, some had translated their name, I could go on... ultimately though, we all work in the same place and some of them earn a lot more than me, so ultimately I think the only thing anyone cared about was we called them the right name.
Spelling and pronounciation are more of an issue than how it looks on a CV imho.
The one exception I'd say is names that aren't necessarily cultural but seen as more 'modern/trendy/faddy/non-name-like' like Princess, Baby, Cherry, Diamond, Honey, I think people would find them a bit embarassing and judge the bearer before they met them... but I don't think it'd stop Princess or Jaqlynn or Cupcake getting the job if they got an interview based on qualifications and then blew it out of the park. And because 'previewing' my message made me think of it, UK Placenames like London, Brighton, Bristol etc. would probably get laughed at a lot, it still wouldn't stop the right person getting the right job, but they might get laughed at and it'd get more of a negative reaction than a cultural name. On the other hand, cultural names from Khadijah to Ayo to Faraji to Shirin to Ha-Jun wouldn't raise an eyebrow anywhere outside of really rural UK, let alone look bad on a CV or stop anyone from getting the job if they were the best candidate *
* All names of people I (have) work(ed) with, one of whom was my boss!
This message was edited 12/4/2024, 2:12 PM
Replies
https://www.britsoc.co.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2020/december/ethnic-minorities-more-likely-to-be-unemployed-because-employers-reject-applications-from-non-white-names/
I doubt it actually happens less in the UK.
I wouldn't say word names like the ones you gave aren't cultural. Princess for example is in the top ten in the Philippines and has some historic usage in the US, and I would guess Diamond is black. I do think it's more than race or ethnocentrism (in an Irish study, non-Irish names, including German names, were discriminated against); it's also about perceived socioeconomic status and classism.
I doubt it actually happens less in the UK.
I wouldn't say word names like the ones you gave aren't cultural. Princess for example is in the top ten in the Philippines and has some historic usage in the US, and I would guess Diamond is black. I do think it's more than race or ethnocentrism (in an Irish study, non-Irish names, including German names, were discriminated against); it's also about perceived socioeconomic status and classism.
This message was edited 12/4/2024, 8:11 PM