Cultural Sociology

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Mark Elchardus and Jessy Siongers Cultural Sociology 2011 5: 403 originally published online 25 March 2011 DOI: 10.1177/1749975510390748 The online version of this article can be found at: http://cus.sagepub.com/content/5/3/403

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Article

First Names as Collective Identifiers: An Empirical Analysis of the Social Meanings of First Names
Mark Elchardus and Jessy Siongers
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Cultural Sociology 5(3) 403422 The Author(s) 2010 Reprints and permission: sagepub. co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1749975510390748 cus.sagepub.com

Abstract
This article investigates the consequences of the detraditionalization of naming practices and the social meanings imputed to first names. It does so on the basis of an exploratory, qualitative study designed to investigate contemporary naming practices and the social meanings assigned to first names, as well as data taken from a representative quantitative study designed to test the relationships between social background and cultural practice and the choice of first names along with the consequences of the names social meanings. Strong relationships persist between social background (class) and choice of first name. Because the latter is strongly related to taste patterns and cultural dispositions, first names are strongly suggestive of the social characteristics and levels of cultural capital pertaining to the childs parents. The results highlight a strong relationship between parents level of education and cultural tastes and practices, on the one hand, and the first names they select for their children, on the other. As a consequence, the first names and educational achievement of children are also strongly related. Further examination casts doubt over these findings, however, and the relationship is shown to be a spurious one due to the association between the selected first name, on the one hand and the cultural practices of the parents and their offspring, on the other.

Keywords
detraditionalization, educational achievement, first names, labelling, social meanings, tastes

Introduction
The study of first names is a woefully neglected area within cultural sociology. Yet there are three ways in which it can contribute to the discipline. The first concerns the extent to which first names, as a readily available indicator, reveal cultural tastes and practices
Corresponding author: Mark Elchardus, Department of Sociology/Research Group TOR,Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Email: mark.elchardus@vub.ac.be

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(Lieberson, 2000). The second concerns the extent to which cultural processes, such as individualization or detraditionalization, can be studied on the basis of naming (Gerhards and Hackenbroch, 2000; Wolffsohn and Brenchenmacher, 2001). And the third relates to the shift in cultural sociology towards the study of culture, not as a dependent variable, but as an explanatory variable (Alexander 2003; Griswold 1987). Research on naming now focuses almost exclusively on naming as a dependent variable, indicative of underlying processes (Besnard and Grange, 1993; Felouzis, 2005; Gerhards and Hackenbroch, 2000; Lieberson, 2000; Rossi, 1965; Wolffsohn and Brenchenmacher, 2001). From the vantage point of a cultural sociology interested in the autonomous and constitutive role of culture, however, the question can be raised as to what extent the choice of first names is performative and a form of cultural practice expressive not only of wider processes and factors, but that is effective in shaping how individuals think, feel and act. This article addresses the following three questions: what does the study of first names contribute to our understanding of the process of detraditionalization? What do first names tell us about tastes and cultural practices, and about their embeddedness in class and other collective identifiers? And, are first names constitutive? That is to say, do they actually shape the way people feel, think and act? The analysis is based on a qualitative, exploratory study, designed to gain insight into contemporary naming practices and the social meanings attached to first names. It also uses data from a quantitative analysis of a representative sample of 6,974 pupilparent pairs. This allows for a systematic analysis of the relationship between social background, cultural practices, the social meanings of first names and their consequences. More specifically, we examine the consequences of naming for educational achievement. In order to investigate the relationship between first names and educational achievement, we will make use of multidimensional scaling (MDS) and logistic regression analysis. The findings presented show that name giving has indeed been detraditionalized, but that this has not resulted in an individualization of naming practices. On the contrary, the practice of name giving is still strongly class-based and influenced by different collective identifiers. It therefore strongly reveals the class background, social position and, particularly, the cultural tastes and practices of both the parents (name givers) and their children (name bearers). Despite the strong relationship between first names and social background, and hence the clear social meanings of names, no solid confirmation for nomen est omen, for a constitutive effect of first names was identified.

Detraditionalization and the Rise of Taste in Name Selection

Different researchers describe and document a detraditionalization of name giving (Gerhards and Hackenbroch, 2000; Lieberson, 2000; Wolffsohn and Brenchenmacher, 2001). Lieberson (2000) lists a number of examples of traditional name giving including: marking continuity of the family lineage by giving the name of a deceased to a newborn; giving the name of grandparents (see also Rossi, 1965) or of parents (see also Gerhards and Hackenbroch, 2000); giving the name of saints (see also Gerhards and Hackenbroch, 2000; Leys, 1976); and using the names of godparents. The analyses of Lieberson (2000),

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Gerhard and Hackenbroch (2000) and Wolffsohn and Brenchenmacher (2001) indicate that such practices have waned. The extent and phenomenology of detraditionalization were explored by means of a semi-directed questionnaire administered to 589 first year university students.1 Of these, only about 11 per cent reported the survival of traditional name giving patterns within their family, whereas 7 per cent declared they were not sure such patterns existed, and 82 per cent maintained that their parents had chosen the first names of their children independently of family and other traditions. The surviving traditional practices consisted of giving first names that acted as a religious or ethnic identifier, or emphasized family lineage (e.g. by giving the names of grandparents or the names of deceased family members). When asked why they thought their parents had chosen their particular name, approximately 13 per cent claimed they had no idea and 47 per cent gave reasons indicating that they believed their parents had based their choice on taste or fashion (mentioning aesthetic reasons: the way the name sounds; its morphophonological harmony with the family name; its fashionableness at the time, etc.). Fourteen per cent indicated that they were named after a specific person and the remaining 26 per cent gave a wide range of reasons, none of which was given by more than 3 per cent of the respondents.

Detraditionalization and Individualization

In the literature, it is a common assumption that detraditionalization is considered as leading to individualization with individuals tastes and choices becoming increasingly independent from social variables (Wuthnow, 1991). With regard to cultural developments in general, Beck (1986) adheres to this interpretation, equating detraditionalization and individualization, and claiming that personal preferences have become independent of gender and social class. If this is true, one would expect to find that the relationship between, for instance, social class or, more broadly, collective identifiers on the one hand and preference for specific first names on the other, has become weak or even disappeared. Using a threefold categorization of social class (occupational position), Gerhards and Hackenbroch (2000) tested this hypothesis and found no significant weakening of the relationship between social position and the choice of first names between 1894 and 1994 in the city of Gerolstein (Germany). Their operationalization of class background, based on birth registers, is of necessity crude. Yet, there are also theoretical reasons to doubt the applicability of the individualization theory. Contrary to Becks thesis, the greater role of taste and sensitivity to fashion can increase the role of the economic, social and cultural characteristics influencing taste and sensitivity to fashion. One would indeed expect such an increase on the basis of the relationship Bourdieu (1979) establishes between, for example, the various forms of capital he distinguishes and cultural practices such as naming children. Many researchers have observed strong relationships between a background variable or collective identifier, such as the level of education and tastes and cultural practices (Elchardus and Siongers, 2003; Ganzeboom, 1989; Glorieux and Moens, 2002; Lievens, et al., 2005; Stevens, 2002; Stevens and Elchardus, 2001; van Eijck, 2001; van Eijck and Bargeman, 2004). A relationship between social background or collective identifiers and the choice of first names

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Table 1. Social and evocative meanings of names: percentages (N = 497, multiple response) According to you, what should a first name represent/render (the same respondent could give different meanings) Social meanings N  othing, a person has to give meaning to his/her name by his/her behaviour and character Nothing, a name has to be neutral, and serves only to identify a person Evocative meanings The personality or character of a person T  he name should be forceful, radiate, create a positive impression, a good first impression T  he (good) taste of the parents (creative, modern, original, ) should be clear from the name The personality or character of the parents The social class of the bearer The nationality or ethnicity The wishes of the parents (with regard to the character of the child) The gender of the person (femininity, masculinity) A name has to be beautiful A name has to be unique, original E  xpress the parental commitment (chosen with love, hope that parents put in their child, ) A  symbolic meaning (e.g. iris = rainbow in Greek and refers also to the iris flower) The social class background parents/family I t should reflect the cultivation of the parents (a name says something about the taste of parents), it is a cultural inheritance Other (%)

3.4 18.3 82.3 49.9 10.8 3.9 3.6 3.6 3.3 3.1 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.1 1.8 1.5 1.0 8.5

can occur due to the evocative meaning of first names (Darden and Robinson, 1976). Lieberson (2000) enumerates different reasons parents can have for selecting a first name, all of which refer to the meanings the name can evoke in the parents or in other persons. These include: the connotations of the name; a conception of identity the parents associate with the name and wish to bequeath to their offspring; the presumed status value of the name; and any possible religious or philosophical meanings the name evokes. The evocative meaning of the name can also be tied to its use in distinction or emulation (Gerhards and Hackenbroch, 2000; Lieberson and Bell, 1992). Many of the respondents in the exploratory study were acutely aware of such evocative meanings. Asked whether they had the feeling that their first names told something about them or revealed something about them, 43 per cent answered affirmatively, 33 per cent were in doubt and only 24 per cent answered negatively. Talking in general, not necessarily about their own first name, only 3.4 per cent claimed that a first name as such has no evocative meaning, but is given its meaning by the behaviour of the person bearing the name (Table 1). All the other respondents recognized the existence of an evocative meaning and 82 per cent of these normatively supported the use of such meanings. The 18 per cent who did not stated that a first name should merely identify a person, in as neutral a way as possible. According to these individuals, it was the responsibility of the

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parents to find neutral names. The remaining majority of respondents thought that first names did have an evocative meaning and supported the practice of giving names with such meanings. Here, 50 per cent felt that it was necessary that names should express the personality or character of a person, 6 per cent thought that it should say something about the parents character or tastes, 5 per cent thought it should say something about the social class background, 4 per cent that it should express the ethnic or national origin of the bearer, and 11 per cent that when interacting with other persons, it should create a first, immediate, positive impression of the name bearer. The tastes and preferences of the name bearer can of course differ from those of the name giver. Approximately 20 per cent of the name bearers declared that they would prefer to have a different first name from their present one. A variety of reasons were given for this: the most common was the feeling their present name was ordinary or all too common (38 per cent); that their name sounded awful (14 per cent); was oldfashioned (7 per cent); was an obvious indicator of their ethnic or national origin (5 per cent) was inconsistent with their own tastes and/or life style (5 per cent). Individualization theory, assuming a weak or no relationship between personal taste and class position or collective identifiers, would lead one to expect a weak relationship between social background and detraditionalized naming practices (hypothesis 1). By contrast, the relevance of the evocative meaning of names and the expectation that social background and taste are strongly linked, suggests a strong relationship between taste patterns (hypothesis 2) and social background (hypothesis 3) and choice of first name. Some authors assume the existence of a very strong relationship between the choice of first names and the cultural characteristics of the parents (Wolffsohn and Brenchenmacher, 2001; Zelinksky, 1970), however, the existence of such a relationship has thus far not been tested in a direct way by relating the choice of first name to variables measuring variations in tastes and practices at an individual level. Before testing this relationship, we examine the additional social meanings attributed to first names that emerged from the exploratory study.

The Hermeneutics of First Names

One of the most surprising results to emerge from the study was the finding that not only do respondents ascribe to first names the power to identify, and evoke meaning, but thought that first names also direct and constitute a person. Participants attitudes towards the meanings of first names can be mapped using DAndrades (1984) classification of the meanings of meaning. Four possible meanings of first names can be distinguished in the answers of the respondents: a first name can represent, evoke, direct, and construct. The first name represents a person or at least helps in representing or distinguishing that person from other persons. It evokes and associates the person with (desirable and undesirable) connotative meanings. It also constitutes and directs. A constitutive meaning implies that the bearer is partly constituted by his or her first name, and that factors influencing the thinking, feeling and acting of the person are systematically related to the first name. The directive meaning of the name refers to the need, compulsion or obli gation to do something, elicited by the name in its bearer or in persons interacting with the bearer.

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About half of the respondents (49.5 per cent) expressed the view that a person can be influenced, in the sense of constituted, by his or her first name. The other half rejected this view. The believers described various mechanisms by which a first name can have the power to constitute. These can be classified into two broad categories. About 15 per cent of the respondents emphasized a kind of self-constitution and thought that their first name directs them to act in a certain way. That is to say, persons react to their own name (they want to live up to its evocative meaning, to the person or heritage it refers to, etc.) and in that way the name influences its bearer inasmuch as it constitutes who that person becomes. The other believers, the overwhelming majority, emphasized constitution through the reaction of others. The name directs others to react in a certain way and these reactions constitute the self of the name bearer: When youre called Cindy, a student called Cindy lamented, most people assume right off that you are lower class and, more disturbing, probably a bit dumb. Cindy was convinced that this had influenced her, had partly determined the person she had become, among other reasons, because she had felt the need to fight this sort of prejudice. On this view, first names can give rise to negative or affirmative reactions, emphasize or de-emphasize class and ethnic identity, and create a positive or a negative impression for the name bearer. Such variations direct the reactions of others, in turn influencing the name bearers sense of self-worth and his or her subsequent self-development. As surprising as this may seem, this view, in one form or another, is expressed by roughly 85 per cent of the respondents who believe in the constitutive and directive meaning of first names, and by more than 40 per cent of all respondents. Moreover, there are several indications that such a belief in the constitutive meaning of first names is historically not exceptional and has in fact played an important role in traditional naming practices. Naming can indeed be considered as an instance of symbolic investiture. There are numerous examples of the symbolic occupation of the person, indicating belief in the constitutive and directive meaning of such practices. Very important in the Western world has been the introduction of a Christian calendar in which each day was devoted to a saint, creating the possibility to link an individual to a patron saint through naming. By the eighteenth century such a practice was, according to Groethuysen (1927), explicitly recognized and theorized as a way to direct and constitute individual selves. The use of the name of saints for newborns remained prevalent into the nineteenth century. The decline of that practice throughout the twentieth century is considered an indication of secularization (Gerhards and Hackenbroch, 2000; Wolffsohn and Brenchenmacher, 2001). During the French Revolution a new revolutionary calendar was introduced as part of an attempt to create a new, non-Christian occupation of space and time (Bianchi, 1982; Ozouf, 1976). During that period name giving was also influenced by the revolutionary zeal (Bianchi, 2000; Godechot, 1968). Children were given the names of the days of the newly introduced calendar such as Primodi, Duodi, or names that celebrated revolutionary heroes and virtues: Jean-Baptiste Patriote, Brutus-Sansculotte, Libert-Cherie or Miel-Erasme. There are many other examples of regimes that have tried to promote or even impose certain first names in an attempt at symbolic occupation (e.g. Africanization and Zarization in the Congo, Africanization among Afro-Americans, Albanization in Albania, etc.). Patterns of name giving have therefore also been used as markers of ethnic distinction, cultural continuity within minority groups and also a means

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of integrating into some wider or dominant culture (Streiff-Fenart, 1990; Watkins and London, 1994). Those practices, often zealously undertaken, indicate belief in the effectiveness of naming and the constitutive meaning of naming. Yet they certainly do not constitute proof of such effectiveness. In the case of the respondents involved in the exploratory study, the belief in the constitutive meaning of first names demonstrates a strongly individualist bent. The large majority of the respondents separate evocative, constitutive and directive meanings from traditions and collective identifiers, and strongly attach them to individual characteristics (such as personality, character, taste, and lifestyle). Only 13 per cent explicitly related the evocative meaning to social background, class, ethnic origin, nationality or gender. When explaining how it is a first name can constitute, most respondents described personal experiences. Of those who did so, 23 per cent linked these experiences, as Cindy did in the aforemetioned quotation, in an explicit or systematic manner to class, religion, ethnic origin, nationality or gender. For the large majority of the respondents the belief in the constitutive power of first names is expressed using a (quasi) therapeutic vocabulary that situates the reasons for personal development in relation to some individual property such as character or personality. In order to test the existence of a constitutive meaning (hypothesis 4), we shall verify whether the first name influences educational achievement. It is appropriate to use educational achievement because the belief in the constitutive meaning of first names can be regarded as a specific case of the more general sociological labelling theory. The evocative meaning of first names (or at least of a subset of first names) is likely to be shared in a society. This means that the (alleged) association between certain names or the morphophonetic characteristics of those names and the relevant social characteristics such as educational level, ethnic origin, cultural practices and tastes is already known. Where this is the case, one would, on the basis of labelling theory, expect the first name to act as a significant social label, both for the person concerned and for significant others such as teachers (Adams and Evans, 1996; Davis and Dupper, 2004; Riehl, 1999). The possibility arises then that some first names will elicit specific reactions from teachers (constitution by others) or that some names will predispose the bearer towards applying themselves more or identifying themselves positively in an educational setting more than others (self-constitution). If first names really have a constitutive meaning, it is likely to be observed in their effect on educational achievement. In the following section we describe the data used, the operational definitions of the variables and describe the tests of the hypotheses.

Data and Operational Definitions

The hypotheses were tested using data gathered during the school year 2000-2001 in a random sample of 89 Flemish schools. A questionnaire was completed in class by all the pupils in the 4th and 6th grade of secondary school. Pupils in the 4th grade were approximately 16 years old and pupils in the 6th grade were approximately eighteen years old. A total of 13,598 pupils completed the questionnaire. Each took a copy of the questionnaire home, and of the questionnaires distributed to their parents 7,114 copies were correctly completed and returned (a response rate of 51.8 per cent). The

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questionnaire required to be completed out by one parent only. In 69 per cent of cases it was the mother who did this. A total of 6,974 youngsters returned a completely filledin questionnaire from themselves and from their parents (for technical details see De Groof, Elchardus and Stevens, 2001; Stevens and Elchardus, 2001). The analysis is based on those cases. This means that the information about the cultural practices and tastes of the parents is based directly on their own responses.2

Measuring Educational Achievement

As an indicator of the educational achievement of pupils still in secondary school, the educational track or form was adopted. In Flanders, secondary education at high school level is divided into four forms or tracks: general secondary education which prepares for post-secondary education and university; technical education which prepares for post-secondary technical training or for entry into the labour market; vocational education which directly prepares for the labour market; and secondary art education which comprises only about 2 per cent of the pupils and can be situated somewhere between general and technical education. Almost all of the pupils in general education do go on to higher education as do the majority of those in technical education. Few of those in vocational training do so, however (Sonar, 2002). The forms or tracks serve as useful indexes for trying to predict future educational attainment. Being in the vocational track or form can therefore be considered a good indicator of a school career that predicts a low level of final educational attainment.

Measuring the Independent Variables

Economic status of the parents is measured as an interval scale (using non-linear principal component analysis) and based on employment status (seven categories), occupational status (six levels) and the extent of unemploy ment during the entire career (four categories). Since only one parent is interviewed, we use the level of education of both the parents as provided by the children. Five categories were presented to the adolescents to indicate the educational level of both parents: no diploma, primary education, secondary education but not completed, secondary education completed, and higher education or university. These two variables have been recoded to a dichotomous variable that indicates whether or not one of the parents has completed higher education. In operationalizing cultural tastes and practices many researchers have primarily or even exclusively focused on more traditional markers: visiting museums, going to the opera or a ballet performance, reading poetry and serious novels (Crook, 1997; de Graaf et al., 2000; Katsillis and Rubinson, 1990; for a useful reviews of the literature, see Sullivan, 2000; Sullivan, 2002). We have opted to measure it in terms of widespread mass cultural practices. Variations in taste were mapped on the basis of musical genres (30 styles or genres), television programmes (17 genres) and movie genres (15 genres). Each of the 62 items could be rated from 0 to 10 (allowing for the expression of both likes and dislikes). The possibility was offered to the respondents to indicate they were insufficiently familiar with a genre to be able to rate it. A principal component analysis

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Table 2. Cultural taste of the parents: structure matrix of the principal component analysis Macho Action movies Science fiction movies Crime and police movies Adventure movies Thrillers Horror movies SF and fantasy movies War movies Crime and lawyers series Erotic movies Rock music Cult movies English comedy (series) Comedies (movies) Sport magazines (on TV) Sports broadcast Shows Flemish hit parade music Dating programs Quizzes Chart music and hit parade (general) Human interest programs Flemish soaps Reality TV Foreign language soaps Schlager music Disco Romantic movies Erotic TV programs Punk/punk rock music Hardcore guitar music Funk Heavy metal Hardcore-gabber music Hard rock music New wave music Techno music House music Ska music Alternative guitar/grunge Rap and hip hop Trance/ambient Reggae Ra music Soul/R&B Folk music/world music Dutch and Flemish chanson French chanson Soundtracks Classical music .671 .647 .645 .606 .592 .559 .554 .544 .452 .372 .361 .325 .320 .272 .257 .231 .184 .113 .119 .118 .273 .203 .070 .257 .126 .067 .363 .047 .322 .220 .022 .155 .179 .011 .295 .135 .282 .291 .099 .214 .288 .053 .325 .029 .351 .040 -.028 .056 .170 .001 Fun -.271 -.068 -.088 -.254 .067 -.172 -.145 -.087 -.229 -.220 -.041 -.022 -.223 -.265 -.243 -.160 -.714 -.692 -.639 -.638 -.602 -.567 -.555 -.552 -.547 -.527 -.458 -.416 -.324 -.010 -.061 -.009 -.193 -.100 -.014 -.054 -.409 -.393 -.001 .018 -.257 -.067 .034 .033 .004 .176 .179 .028 -.130 .191 Youthful -.130 -.191 -.079 -.048 -.108 -.158 -.201 -.097 -.107 -.221 -.258 -.259 -.167 -.088 -.119 -.096 -.064 -.121 -.118 -.015 -.122 -.064 -.055 -.065 -.095 -.078 -.163 -.037 -.237 -.647 -.608 -.608 -.591 -.588 -.580 -.529 -.527 -.511 -.495 -.495 -.455 -.430 -.401 -.374 -.353 -.259 -.236 -.153 -.108 -.140

411

High brow -.023 .066 .169 .114 .110 -.079 .072 .258 .180 .013 .317 .299 .151 .254 .205 .215 .065 .017 -.079 .021 .092 .001 .101 -.056 -.035 .102 .099 .340 -.025 .023 .124 .151 -.057 .104 .016 .167 -.066 -.091 .235 .242 .133 .179 .346 .256 .335 .572 .541 .528 .525 .510

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Table 2.(Continued) Macho Movies about social problems Psychological movies Sixties music News broadcasts and news magazines on TV Seventies music Jazz/blues Flemish rock music Political movies Little news programs Cartoons Talk shows TV cartoon series Eigenvalues % of variance .051 .206 .204 .050 .237 .261 .220 .374 .125 .271 .043 .277 8.812 14.212 Fun -.012 .087 -.209 -.006 -.225 .143 -.165 .222 -.128 -.232 -.277 -.279 5.542 8.735

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Youthful -.183 -.184 .003 -.022 .013 -.294 -.366 -.281 -.083 -.139 -.069 -.154 3.679 5.934

High brow .473 .438 .411 .408 .403 .403 .386 .381 .364 .359 .340 .290 3.477 5.609

(oblique rotation) showed four dimensions for the parents (Table 2). These are briefly described below: Fun culture is a dimension that measures a strong preference (or dislike) for reality television, soaps, amusement programs and quizzes, mainstream pop music, music that makes the charts and hit parades. Macho culture captures the preference and dislike for, among other things, action movies, crime movies, horrors, thrillers, erotic movies and series, and sports programs and sports specials. Youthful culture expresses likes and dislikes with particular regard to musical tastes as potentially differentiating parents from their children: punk music and punk rock, hardcore guitar, funk, heavy metal, new wave, techno. High brow mass culture expresses attitudes towards the more gentrified genres of popular culture and elements of high culture: world and folk music, French chanson, classical music, movies about social problems and psychological movies, music from the 1960s, informative television programs. Adolescents tastes are measured in the same way, and the analysis revealed quite similar dimensions, with the exception of the dimension referred to as youthful culture. This dimension is somewhat different for the pupils, and is referred to as alternative culture which expresses likes and dislikes regarding alternative guitar music such as punk and punk rock, hardcore guitar, heavy metal, or new wave. Media preferences and tastes are often used interchangeably. They are indeed closely related (Berry, 1990; Jensen, 1990). We measure them separately, however, because the exploratory study pointed towards the importance of media and popular culture for selecting first names. To begin, respondents were asked which first name they would give to a child and where they had first encountered the name. Of these, 29 per cent said they first heard their preferred first name in the
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media. When asked whether they could recall a movie personage with that same name, 36 per cent answered affirmatively. The media preferences of the parents and the adolescents are measured on the basis of their preference for radio and television channels, as well as magazines. The respondents were asked to rate eight radio and nine television channels from 0 (bad) to 10 (outstanding). The possibility was also offered here to indicate that one was insufficiently familiar with a particular channel to rate it. The respondents were also presented with a list of 10 magazines; individual magazines in the case of those that are mass circulated and groups of magazines (e.g. sport magazines or lifestyle magazines) whose circulation is more restricted. Respondents were asked to select their preferred magazine or category from the list. A categorical principal component analysis revealed that these different forms of mass media can, both for parents and their children, be ordered on a single dimension3 presented as an axis ranging from more popular channels and magazines to the more high brow, critical or elitist media. A low score on this variable indicates a preference for magazines with a serious reputation, offering quality journalism, rather high brow, as well as public television and radio channels. A high score indicates a preference for commercial television channels, magazines and radio channels devoted to fun and more sensational, popular keen reporting.

First Names and Taste Patterns

We used multidimensional scaling (MDS) in order to map the relationship between taste patterns and first names.4 We did so by distinguishing two groups of parents on the basis of their tastes: parents with a preference (above average) for high brow mass culture and a dislike (below average) for fun culture. Parents who score either above or below average on both of those dimensions are not used in the MDS analysis. Within each of the groups defined in this way, the first names of children were ordered according to popularity.5 Only those names to occur at least 10 times in the sample of 13,598 pupils were used. This classification makes it possible to calculate the Euclidian distance between the names on the basis of their rank order in the groups distinguished. Should the two groups of parents have comparable tastes in first names, then those distances would be very small. Attempts to reduce them to a limited number of dimensions (which is the purpose of MDS) would in this case reveal no meaningful dimensions. The MDS analysis indicates that the distances generated by our classification are fairly sizable and can be reduced to two dimensions (see Figure 1).6 Moreover, these dimensions can be interpreted straight forwardly. The first reflects the popularity of first names or the frequency with which they are given (see Figure 1). This can be concluded from the extremely strong correlation (r =0.91) between the score on this dimension and the number of times the name occurs in the total data file. Names such as Tom, Sofie and Christof were very popular (frequent) names in Flanders when the pupils received their first name, while names as Maaike, Rob and Denis were much less popular at that time. The second dimension reflects the taste patterns. The correlations between this dimension with variables measuring tastes are very high: with the appreciation for high brow mass culture it is r = 0.41, with fun culture r =0.43 (N =1695). Names popular with those with a preference for high brow mass culture are likely to be considered traditional and sound clearly Flemish, Dutch or French: Thomas, Pieter, Marjan, Nele, Jo, Jelle, Charlot, Maarten, etc. Names popular with people with a preference for fun
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thomas

1,000
marjan valerie lies ruben charlot hans lien eva jelle maarten katrien nele pieter bert sara liesbet jeroen koen els wim inge ellen karen tim stijn evelien bart kim natalie an tom sofie christof

Dimension 2: High brow taste parents

jo

0,500

simon pieterjan

matthias hanne brecht sam julie toon

jonas marijke ilse dorien yanick robin joris elke ine

wouter carolien annelies bram jan peter filip leen tine

0,000

maaike stefan johan rob denis

nicolas tanja

anke isabel jef michael

stefanie dries joke

jurgen yves veroniek

christien ben marc

veerle dieter nick chris

0,500

steve dimitri joeri natacha jessica tamara kenny

Scale
steven

heidi

david

evi vicki

kevin

katleen davy mieke linsey

sven wendy cindy vanessa kelly

150 100 50 0

1,000

melissa

1,000

0,500

0,000

0,500

1,000

Dimension 1: Popularity of names

Figure 1. Scatterplot of the appearance of first names according to the tastes of the parents: parents with an exclusive high brow taste versus parents with an exclusive fun taste (N = 1,695)
Note: PROXSCAL technique, final coordinates in a two-dimensional space, limited to names that appear at least 10 times in the dataset, S-Stress = 0.00020; Tuckers coefficient of congruence = 0.99997.

culture tend to sound Anglo-American: Kelly, Linsey, Kenny, Cindy, Melissa, Vicky etc. and to end in a y or a sound. The very high correlations between the taste dimensions and the classification of names derived from the MDS confirms hypothesis 2. There is a close correspondence between general taste patterns and preference in first names. This relationship becomes far more visible after taking the overall popularity of names into consideration. There are indeed a number of names that are so frequently used that their relation to taste patterns becomes weak. This can be discerned from Figure 1. The very popular names tend to coalesce near the mean of the taste dimension. Parents who try to be original with their choice of first names form part of the group who most clearly reveal their overall taste patterns and levels of cultural capital.

First Names and Parents Level of Education

In order to map the relationship between first names and the parents level of education a similar MDS analysis was performed. Here, the groups were distinguished on the basis of the parents educational level (families in which neither parent has successfully completed post-secondary education vs. families in which at least one of the parents has a

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0,900 matthias

Dimension 2: Educational level of parents

0,600

pieterjan toon

julie nils ine valerie jelle

nicolas

eva joris lies maarten dries veerle leen inge dieter wouter katleen thomas katrien tine nele jeroen sven stefanie evi kevin joke pieter liesbet jan carolien stijn tim sofie sara tom

ruben 0,300 simon hendrik 0,000 rob robin

roel hans sam stefan

jo

yanick jonas yves mieke

marc tanja jurgen 0,300 glen 0,600 sandra jef jessica

veroniek ilse natacha

michael karen

wim

an natalie kim christof

0,900

davy joeri dimitri steve david tamara linsey nick vicki wendy cindy debbie bjorn vanessa andy kenny kelly

1,000

0,500

0,000

0,500

1,000

1,500

Dimension 1: Popularity of names

Figure 2. Scatterplot of the appearance of first names according to the educational level of the parents (N = 5,625)
Note: PROXSCAL technique, final coordinates in a 2 dimensional space, limited to names that appear at least 10 times in the dataset (S-Stress= 0.00045; Tuckers coefficient of congruence=0.99991)

diploma of post-secondary education) (Figure 2). In this case, a two-dimensional solution is adequate (S-Stress = 0.00045). Again, the first dimension reflects the overall frequency with which names are given. The second dimension is strongly related to the level of education of the parents (r = 0.325).7 Names distinctive of children with highly educated parents are Matthias, Pieterjan, Eva, Ine, Marieke, Nicolas, Anneleen, etc. Names distinctive of children of parents with a low level of education once again indicate a (non-exclusive) preference for Anglo-American phonemes: Kelly, Cindy, Kenny, Andy, Vanessa, Wendy and Bjorn. The strong relationship between the uncovered classification of names and the educational level of the parents, falsifies hypothesis 1 derived from individualization theory and confirms hypothesis 3 predicting a strong relationship between social background or collective identifiers (indicated by the level of education) and the choice of first name.

The Meaning of First Names and Educational Achievement

The MDS analyses yield two different metrics to measure the socially evocative meaning of first names. One represents the name as a possible indicator of the parents level of education (educational metric), the other as a possible indicator of the parents cultural tastes and practices or cultural capital. As the two measures are very

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Table 3. Logistic regression: the impact of having a popular name on the chance to end up in vocational education Popular name= morphonological metrica (N = 4,944) Exp(B) Constant Popular name Grade (6th against 4th) Gender (girls against boys) At least one higher educated parent SES parents Nagelkerke R 0.277*** (0.079) 1.558*** (0.099) 1.095 (0.083) 0.828* (0.090) 0.233*** (0.101) 0.814*** (0.037) 0.141 Popular name= educational metricb (N = 3,303) Exp(B) 0.270*** (0.096) 2.086*** (0.145) 1.087 (0.102) 1.049 (0.103) 0.228*** (0.129) 0.886* (0.048) 0.149

Notes: Results shown are exponents of the logistic regression coefficients (odds ratio) with standard errors in parentheses. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 (two-tailed test). a Name ends on a a, y or ie. b Based on MDS loadings; inversed common space coordinates of the two-dimensional MDS solution (PROXSCAL technique).

strongly related (r = 0.79), we decided to use only one of them (the dimension reflecting the parents level of education) in testing for the effects of naming on educational achievement. It is quite likely that significant others such as teachers are aware of the correspondence between certain names and the naming parents level of education. This knowledge in turn forms the basis for labelling effects. It is also possible, however, that the evocative or social meaning of first names does not so much rest upon such quasi-statistical knowledge, but on an awareness of the correspondence between social class and educational level, on the one hand, and specific morphophonological characteristics of certain names, on the other. Lieberson (2000), for example, has shown that changes in the fashion of names can be understood on the basis of their morphophonological characteristics. Parents with a low level of education and with an exclusive preference for fun culture seem to have a pronounced preference for first names ending on a of y sounds (the latter also written as ie in Dutch). As a second metric, we therefore use the distinction between names ending on a, ie or y, on the one hand, all other names, on the other (morphophonological metric).8 In order to verify whether the first name has an independent effect on educational achievement (being in the vocational track), we controlled for parents educational level and socio-economic status, as well as for the gender of the pupil and the grade (4th or 6th year of secondary school).

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From Table 3 it is clear that the meaning of the first name, whatever the metric used (table 3) has a strong, statistically significant effect on educational achievement. The probability of ending up in the vocational track is 1.5 times higher for adolescents with names ending with an a, ie or y than for adolescents with another name ending. Also, adolescents are more likely to end up in vocational education when their name is more typical for less educated parents, even when the educational background and the socioeconomic status of the parents are taken into account. Because the selection of names is strongly related to cultural practices, it is of course possible that the observed effect is spurious, due to the cultural tastes and practices of the parents and the children. This would be in line with Bourdieus (1979) reproduction thesis. Based on this, one would expect there to be an intergenerational transfer of cultural resources, or in this case, tastes and media preferences, which will in turn be converted into educational credentials. When controlling for the parents four taste dimensions and the variable measuring their media preference, the effects of the metrics for the meaning of the first names do indeed decrease. Yet, they remain statistically significant (see columns 2 and 4 in Appendix 1). The relationship between the social meanings of the first name and educational achievement is not completely explained by the parents socioeconomic status, level of education, tastes and media preferences. Additionally, when controlling for pupils own media preferences and tastes the metrics for the social meaning of first names is insignificant in the case of the educational metric and barely significant for the morphophonological metric (significance at the .05 level in a sample of 4,944 cases does not constitute a strong case) (see Appendix 1, column 3). For these reasons, it seems appropriate to reject hypothesis 4. When tested on the basis of their impact on educational achievement, first names do not have a constitutive meaning and labelling theory is not applicable to first names.

Conclusion
The contemporary practice of naming has to a great extent emancipated itself from the strictures of tradition and religious practices, and in so doing became very revelatory of the evocative meanings parents bequeath to their children, knowingly or otherwise. When the parents do not select common names but try to be original, their choice of first names clearly reveals their cultural position and cultural capital. This confirms that first names, information about which is readily available, can be used to study variations in taste patterns and cultural practices. The selection of first names has, moreover, as Lieberson (2000) emphasizes, no material constraints attached to it. In this sense, they are pure indicators of taste that should no longer be neglected in the study of culture and culture change. The detraditionalization of name giving has not led to an individualization of naming practices, however. Rather, a strong relationship was identified between social background, parental attributes (i.e. their level of education) and the first names selected for their children. Such a relationship arises because the level of education and the general taste patterns and cultural practices are strongly interrelated. With the exception of those individuals choosing very common names, childrens first names are a good indication of the cultural practices and social background of the parents. To this end, they

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Appendix 1. Logistic regression: the impact of having a popular name on the chance to end up in vocational education, controlled for the media preferences and tastes Metric for name morphophonological metrica(N = 4,944) Exp(B) Constant Metric measuring the meaning of name Grade (6th against 4th) Gender (girls against boys) At least one higher educated parent SES parents Parents culture Media preference parent Macho taste Fun taste Youthful taste High brow taste Adolescents culture Media preference adolescent Macho taste Fun taste Alternative music (guitar) High brow taste Nagelkerke R 0.178 0.222*** (0.085) 1.306** (0.102) 1.165 (0.085) 0.832* (0.092) 0.327*** (0.107) 0.887** (0.040) 0.807*** (0.048) 1.047 (0.035) 1.236*** (0.039) 0.960 (0.033) 0.884** (0.037) Exp(B) 0.168*** (0.101) 1.251* (0.105) 1.508*** (0.092) 0.830 (0.122) 0.381*** (0.109) 0.870** (0.041) 0.876** (0.051) 1.071 (0.036) 1.038 (0.042) .971 (0.035) 0.964 (0.038) 0.784** (0.071) 1.050 (0.060) 1.742*** (0.068) 1.004 (0.055) 0.615*** (0.063) 0.241 Metric for name Educational metric (N = 3,303) Exp(B) 0.220*** (0.103) 1.529** (0.153) 1.158 (0.104) 1.011 (0.104) 0.296*** (0.134) 0.963 (0.051) 0.854** (0.060) 1.013 (0.043) 1.267*** (0.049) 0.967 (0.041) 0.874** (0.046) Exp(B) 0.159*** (0.124) 1.320 (0.158) 1.547*** (0.112) 1.010 (0.143) 0.341*** (0.137) 0.940 (0.052) 0.913 (0.063) 1.038 (0.045) 1.065 (0.053) 0.994 (0.043) 0.945 (0.048) 0.804* (0.088) 1.085 (0.073) 1.811*** (0.085) 1.014 (0.068) 0.613*** (0.078) 0.245

0.180

Notes: Results shown are exponents of the logistic regression coefficients (odds ratio) with standard errors in parentheses. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 (two-tailed test). a Name ends on a a, y or ie. b Based on MDS loadings; inversed common space coordinates of the two-dimensional MDS solution (PROXSCAL technique).

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distinguish in the sense of the word intended by Bourdieu. As a consequence of the strong relationships between the social meanings of first names, social background, cultural tastes and media preferences, a strong relationship exists between the social meaning and morphophonological properties of first names and educational achievement. In contrast to what many of our informants in the exploratory study believe, such a relationship appears to be spurious. Prejudiced labelling on the basis of first names, and hence the constitutive and directive meaning of names, cannot be established. The relationships between the bearers first name and educational achievement can be explained by the cultural tastes and media preferences of the parents and of the pupils themselves, the latter playing a more important role. As far as educational achievement is concerned, nomen est omen does not apply. Yet, our analysis helps to explain why so many of the young people in the exploratory study are of the view that they are victims of bias and prejudice on the basis of their first name. Controlling for background characteristics does not completely explain the effect of the social meaning of first names. Only controlling for the pupils own cultural tastes and practices does. Due to the association between first names and cultural practices and tastes, it is likely that pupils blame the effects of their own cultural dispositions on prejudice based on their first names. The exploratory study indicates that the detraditionalization of naming has given rise to a theory that individualizes the meaning of first names, that hides their social character and interprets the results of class-based cultural tastes and practices as a consequence of labelling and prejudice based on an individual trait such as the first name. To others first names often reveal the class and tastes of the name bearer, while to many of the latter the belief in the constitutive role of first names hides the effects of class and tastes. Notes
1. The students were taking the introductory course in Sociology at a Belgian university in the academic year 20052006. 2. Information about the parents is more reliable when this is given by the parents themselves and they alone are able to provide information concerning their tastes and cultural practices. The fact that in this selection mothers are over-represented is not problematic. Separate analyses for mothers and fathers showed no significant differences in the observed effects. 3. The eigenvalue is 0.122. The eigenvalue is significant if greater than 0.03 (= 1/35, because there is an input of 35 variables). A solution with two dimensions has an eigenvalue of 0.07, is thus statistically still acceptable, but is difficult to interpret. 4. SPSS proxscal-MDS routine with Euclidian distance. 5. Names that are phonetically identical but are written differently, were grouped together, e.g. Mark and Marc or Jessy and Jessie. 6. The scree plot indicates a sharp drop after two dimensions and the S-stress for two dimensions has an acceptable value (S-Stress = 0.00020). S-Stress values vary from 0 to 1. Values below 0.05 are considered indicative of an acceptable fit. Evolution of the S-Stress: 0.21169 (1 dimension) 0.00020 (2 dimensions) 0.00070 (3 dimensions). 7. Because of the large sample size, the Pearson correlation can be used instead of the point biserial correlation which is not available in SPSS. 8. This morphophonological metric can certainly be made more refined. There are a number of examples of female first names ending with a that are considered very traditional and rather typical of highly educated milieus (Eva, Emma, Anna). For the moment we accept working

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with this crude measure, increasing noise and measurement error, because it makes the test more conservative and thus more likely to falsify our hypothesis.

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