Names make an impression—and your own moniker may end up helping or hurting your career. Which names are most likely to make you sound intelligent? The list below—from the book 100,000+ Baby Names—is based on a poll of more than 100,000 parents about their impressions of names.
Girls:
Abigail
Agatha
Alexis
Barbara
Dana
Daria
Diana
Eleanor
Grace
Helen
Jade
Jillian
Kate
Kaylyn
Laura
Leah
Lillian
Mackenzie
Marcella
Meredith
Meryl
Michaela
Shauna
Shelley
Vanessa
Boys:
Adlai
Alexander
Barton
Brock
Clifford
Colin
Dalton
David
Donovan
Esteban
Fraser
Jefferson
Jerome
John
Kelsey
Kenneth
Merlin
Ned
Nelson
Roderick
Samuel
Sebastian
Tim
Virgil
(List presented with permission from Meadowbrook Press)
The Sinrod Marketing Group’s International Opinion panel surveyed more than 100,000 parents on their opinions and impressions of names. The complete results of the poll are presented in The Baby Name SurveyBook by Bruce Lansky and Barry Sinrod. The book explains which names people most commonly associate with certain attributes such as intelligence, athleticism, or attractiveness.
