POPULARITY VS ASSOCIATION NAME CONNOTATION By Cathy A

POPULARITY VS. ASSOCIATION: NAME CONNOTATION By Cathy A. Busby

- INTRODUCTION - SIDE 1: POPULARITY - SIDE 2: ASSOCIATION - METHODOLOGY - POSSIBLE RESULTS - CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION Mother-to-be interested in names Positive or negative connotation of individual names Connotation primarily based on popularity OR Connotation primarily based on association

SIDE 1: POPULARITY Expectant Mothers Baby name books – trendy names

SIDE 1: POPULARITY SSA – Social Security Administration http: //www. ssa. gov/OACT/babynames/ Any year after 1879 Stereotyping Popular names have a more positive connotation Ex. Jessica is seen as a skinny, fun, attractive girl

SIDE 2: ASSOCIATION Positive Family names Friends – past and present Influential people Heroes/Idols

SIDE 2: ASSOCIATION Negative Ex-boyfriends or girlfriends Rude boss/co-workers Bad influences Overall connotation based on experience with people of that name

METHODOLOGY Survey Will be given to 100 people (high-school education or higher) Twenty male names and twenty female names Ten names from each gender will be extremely popular names (defined by baby name books and SSA) Ex. Brandon or Ashley The remaining ten names will be older, less common names Ex. Fred or Agnes Subjects will link positive or negative adjectives with each name They will also specify if they know someone with that name Analyzing data Survey information will be collected and reviewed Similar positive/negative adjective connotation Personal association

SURVEY EXAMPLE Name: HAROLD q Please check the box if you personally know someone with this name. Please check the boxes corresponding to the adjectives that you would use to describe someone with this name. q Cheerful q Productive q Groomed q Depressing q Lazy q Unkempt q Smart q Thin q Graceful q Unintelligent q Overweight q Clumsy q Good-looking q Social q Funny q Unattractive q Withdrawn q Humorless

POSSIBLE RESULTS Side I: The majority of the tested names without a personal connection will be associated with the same/similar adjectives for each specific name, and will derive an overall positive or negative connotation for the individual names based on popularity Side 2: The majority of the tested names that people have a personal connection to will have varying and different adjectives (skewed results) that correspond to the name, indicating that connotation is based on association The side that has a greater percentage of results (51%+) will be deemed to influence name connotation the most

CONCLUSION The survey will help to show whether name connotation is based on popularity or association Problems Results could be based on personal preference Not enough participants No association with names tested (primarily popularity) Future work Larger sample size More specific data analysis