Could employers judge people by their names?

[MsbossyRN]

I really should be in bed right now. But after talking to other new grads in my area that are also jobless I just wanted to get some opinions. Do you feel that people's names may prevent them from getting them a job as a nurse? I know we've all heard, silly names before and I'm just wondering would say, "Ms Poppy Sunflower" be offered a job? Or would a recruiter look at the name and be like, "heck no, trash bin"!

I'm just curious and this is not a slam to anyone who has a name that is different. Shoot my name is completly, better yet, extremly hard to prononue. But even though my name may be hard to pronouce its not silly or childish sounding. I'm wondering would Bambie buttercup find it easy to find employment.

I know this seems like a weird topic (blame it on sleep deprevation). But after talking to some friends about issues that they believe might be preventing them from getting jobs. I just started thinking about how names can effect landing a job as a nurse. My friend was saying her obviously ethnic name might be keeping her from employment because it might be preceived as ghetto. I usually roll my eyes whenever anyone starts swinging the golden race card(you know that card that has the innate ability to seem to be the cause of whatever the user wishes it to be. No matter even if the said offender is of the same race).

But it got me thinking do we really view people by their names. I used silly examples here but is say Jennifer Rose seen as more dependble or gentle towards patients? Would Poppy sunflower be viewed for a job as maybe childish and unreliable. Would Cu'nae Alize' be percieved as ghetto and unprofessional?

Sorry for the long post. But I am curious to what others have experienced relating to this topic or stories they may have heard. I guess I should have not read the silly children's names post tonight either. :)

[rnlately]

LMAO:D That is so close to my real name that it is scary. No really it is :) Anyway I don't think my name has ever stopped me from getting a job. But then again maybe it has, how would I know? lol Saying that you are a black southerner I wonder did you also grow up with the advise that if you have children you should try to give them the most "white" sounding name that you could in order to help them in life . My grandmother would say that all the time. My first born's name is of Hawaiian descent after visiting there and making future plans to live there.. I think it is very pretty her father thinks it was very pretty. My grandmother, "That poor child will never find a job.":lol2: :smackingf

Are you serious???? I was just pulling a name out of a hat, so to speak...lol. Yes I was advised to give my child not so much a white sounding name but not one of those "made up names" as my parents call them...lol. Actually my daughter's first name is of Hebrew origin and her middle name is of French origin. So a lot of people are stunned to find out that she is just a black southerner as well. It's funny to me because all through life I've had people run up to me and speak Spanish and when I'd try to respond my Spanish is about as bad as their English...lol. I've been tempted to mark bilingual on job apps and where it states "second language" I would love to write "spanglish"; but alas, I don't think that would go over too well.:clown::clown:

[BluegrassRN]

I think it does happen, but I also think it's becoming so common for "unusual" names to be the norm, that it will happen less and less.

My youngest daughter has a name that to some sounds African-American. It's actually a common name in Africa and India (though at the time we thought we had made it up! Just goes to show there aren't really any original thoughts...). One of her teachers commented offhandedly that she was surprised on the first day of school when my daughter answered to her name, that she did not expect a blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned girl to reply "present". First I was a bit taken aback, then a little angry that she would be judged by her first name. Then I worried that we had some how hindered her by giving her an unusual first name. THEN I wondered if *I* judged people by their names, and discovered that I do.

When her generation grows up, though, there are so many "crazy" names it seems, this might be a moot conversation. I hope so! Because frankly, it's often a racial judgement, and it makes me wonder, what is so bad about naming someone an "ethnic" sounding name? Because they someone might think they are not white? Having an ethnic name is unprofessional? Do we really think that?

And as far as the names Poppy Sunflower goes...well, I work with several people with names like "Summer" and "Rain" and while they sound normal to my ears, I suppose to a different generation they are unusual and maybe flakey.

[Elleveein, LVN]

Ive actually seen my boss toss resumes in the trash over names, sad but true. Unfortunately I was a teenage mother and ended up naming my daughter "Lyric" yes the words to music, what was I thinking. I guess that's what happens when your 17 but I really hope it's dosent hold her back because it kinda sounds like a stripper name LOL! Thank goodness my name is Jennifer.

[tbell2]

I think it is stupid to judge people based on names. I had a very memorable maiden name. Alot of times people thought I was joking when I told them. Even though it could be embarrassing, I had a hard time giving it up when I got married (yes, I know I didn't have to, but I like that tradition). I don't think it ever kept me from getting a job, or my unmarried sister. Now, my other sister is married to a hispanic man and has a very hispanic last name. If someone were to look at her resume and they were racist, they may throw her resume out. But she is not in the least hispanic. We are "European mutts" a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

This is a good subject. I definitely believe that employers probably judge people by their names, although I have no proof. Say that they have a need for a Russian speaking nurse due to a high population of Russian patients being serviced and they see a Russian name, they may put that name to the top of their list and push for that interview. Could be that the Russian named nurse may not have a clue on how to speak the language or on the culture, but based on a need, they may have been pushed.

Another example of how a name can heighten perception...I work in a clinic for a city hospital that services many foreign cultures, such as Indian, Pakistanians, Spanish, etc...in addition to African Americans. Most of them do not speak English. When I receive a chart and see the name, I have already pulled out information in their language, got the translator ready, may believe that the women want their husbands to make their decisions, etc... Most times, I am correct, but there are a good number of times that I have been pleasently surprised. I've even had one of them become insulted because she felt that she didn't need any of the language services I set up for her.

I think this is a natural reaction, but this can be taken to the extreme if it can affect hiring practices, but, since these are things that are behind the scenes, it is probably difficult to prove.

[mamamerlee, LPN]

A wise woman once told me "Stand at your front door and yell out the potential names at least three times. If you can tolerate the name on the third yell, it's probably okay, because that's what you're going to do for many years!"

I don't think many people do that, or the names wouldn't be so outrageous.

I worked in neonatal ICU back in the mid-70s when Roots was popular, and saw such names as Kunte Kinte Smith, and Mohammed Jones.

And what's with all the weird apostrophes? Most of the people who do that don't know where to put one where it belongs!

And yes, I do think names affect hiring practices, unfortunately. Sometimes there is little thought given to certain things.

[cheska_rn, ASN, RN]

Unfortunately it does happen. Sometimes to a persons benefit, and sometimes not.

I have an "unusual" name as you can tell from my uname (yes, I put my real first name -- dumb, I know).

Anyways, I ended up getting a job that more than 200 ppl applied for. After I had been there for a while, my manager and I got pretty close, and he let me in on the fact that one of the reasons I was selected to interview was because my name sounded ethnic, and they were trying to get a more diverse mgmt staff. Although I technically wasn't the ethnicity they were looking for, I still had the skills needed for the position and managed to snag the job. However, had I not had an "ethnic" sounding name, I wouldn't have even gotten the interview!

Similar situation happened to my sister, who has a very ethnic name (Nakita). She applied for a job, and didn't get a call for an interview. This was an entry level job at a family owned business, and they had a couple of job openings. She kept calling and they would tell her they weren't hiring right now (even though they had a sign that said they were). She ended up stopping by the place, and the owner kind of laughed and said "Oh, the reason we weren't interviewing you is because we thought you were "______".

[healthstar, BSN, RN]

Thank God I have been blessed with a good name...almost every country has it. I just don't get why people would name their kid D*ck Harry/harry d*ck I've seen both. lol.

[MsbossyRN]

Discrimination does happen based on names, but I think that email addresses (and other controllable factors) are almost as much an issue as names are. I'm not sure how blondehottieRN@... expects to be taken seriously, but that type of thing is more common than I would have expected.

Lol I agree. There is a time and a place for everything. I created an email account purposely for work related stuff that isn't silly or crazy. I do hope that if I applied for a job as MsBossyRN@mail then my app would go in the trash. :jester:No employer would know the story behind the name. If I was an employer I would be like, "I'm not hiring someone that calls themselves bossy!":D But you bring up a very good point and some people really are clueless. I have told many friends, some in other careers, that they cannot send potential employers emails from an eamil account that may describe them as hot, sexy, or even gansta:rolleyes:

[MsbossyRN]

Names can be changed. They're changed all the time.

Now, it's unfair that someone would have to change their name; But if my first name was Christmas and my last name was Carol (I've seen it; it's true), I would have been down at the courthouse the day I turned 18.

Lol. That's funny I wanted to change my name the whole time growing up. It drove my mom crazy, said it hurt her feelings because she really likes my name. She views changing it as a slap in the face. So I haven't changed it..yet. Having a complicated name as a nurse is proving unproductive at this point. Wish we could use shortened names on our badges. :)

[Future O.R. Nurse]

DonShavonte Yashika Deloach! Can you wrap your head around that one?? I asked mom what was she thinking when she named her child?? :smackingfWe can all guess her response, and you would be right!!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

studies have proven that job applicants with black-sounding names (latoya, tameka, etc.) are less likely to be called back for an interview, even if their educational attainment and work experiences are similar to job seekers with more "mainstream" names.

'black' names a resume burden? - cbs news

two recent papers from the cambridge-based national bureau of economic research draw somewhat different conclusions about whether a black name is a burden. one, an analysis of the 16 million births in california between 1960 and 2000, claims it has no significant effect on how someone's life turns out.

the other, however, suggests a black-sounding name remains an impediment to getting a job. after responding to 1,300 classified ads with dummy resumes, the authors found black-sounding names were 50 percent less likely to get a callback than white-sounding names with comparable resumes.