Comments on: Baby Names, Careers, and CEOs

By: Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:52:47 +0000

This is why God won’t give me any girls. I wanted to name our daughter (never got one) Cosette and call her “little baby CoCo” but no dice. We have a Jackson (Jack) Quinlan (Quin) and Finnegan Rockford (Rocky Finn). My name is Maren and I love that it’s not common. But it doesn’t really sound super ethnic either. I’ve always wanted to stand out in a stack a resumes, rather than blend in I guess. I can’t imagine not interviewing someone or promoting them because of their name.

When I was a teenager I was helping hire new servers at a restaurant where I worked and one of the applications had the name “Candy” on it. I joked about not needing some blonde bimbo working there. When I met her, she was smart, beautiful, intelligent, had a tremendous work ethic and I was frankly ashamed of my stupid and immature remarks. So I sort of got over preconceived notions about names.

My opinion matters little though because I’ve never worked for a Fortune 500 and never want to.

By: Lindsay Olson » Baby Names and Careers

Lindsay Olson » Baby Names and Careers — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:16:36 +0000

[...] Ruettiman got me thinking about this again a few days ago when she brought up the baby naming topic on her blog, Punk Rock HR. She asked her readers their opinions on baby names and how it affects their future [...]

By: HRM Today - Blog Archive » The October 28 Carnival of HR – Halloween Spirits Version

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:59:34 +0000

[...] name determine your success? Laurie Ruettimann of Punk Rock HR ponders that thought in her post, Baby Names, Careers, and CEOs, while drinking her all-time favorite drink – a mango cayenne [...]

By: Laurie

Laurie — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:59:54 +0000

@China Awesome. Glad you weighed in on this one: you have a different name, you travel globally, and you work in HR. An expert!

@Katie Remember how Carolyn’s cousin named her baby Rhiannon at the same time? So now when Carolyn and I talk, I have to ask, “Which Rhi?” Also, I liked Leni (aka Lennon) but my friend Jason Seiden named his dog (a girl) named Lenny so that will have to do.

By: Human Resources Articles | blogging carnival of HR — hr bartender

Human Resources Articles | blogging carnival of HR — hr bartender — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:03:16 +0000

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:31:21 +0000

Woo Hoo, my name and My daughters name were mentioned. IM the mom of one of the Rhiannons. Her middle name just happens to be Lennon. I wanted something slightly different but not too out there. Most times people think i am saying Bri or rianna- but i spell it out. I had one rule when we were picking names- that was too make sure it didnt sound like a stripper name.

and Laurie we did take a poll- thats why she is Rhiannon Lennon and not Lennon Rhiannon.

By: China Gorman @ChinaGorman

China Gorman @ChinaGorman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:21:55 +0000

Sorry I missed this while I was traveling last week. As you can see, I might have an opinion! China has been a great name and I have been a President. Twice! At pretty young ages. It’s short, rememberable and doesn’t conjure up poles, or anything else untoward. And as I’ve moved around geographically a great deal in my career, people can always find me, as in “how do I get ahold of that woman with the funny name? Where did she go?” Another plus was that when I was selling, I really believe I got more call backs from cold calls because they were curious about my name. The only downside is when I’m actually in China. When the interpreter introduces me, there’s a moment when the audience thinks I may be making fun of them… Otherwise, it’s been a perfect name! (Except for my best friend in high school’s mom. She couldn’t remember anyone’s name. So she remembered this: my name was a country name and it started with “Ch” — so I was always “Chile” to her!)

By: Laurie

Laurie — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:00:46 +0000

@Alex I meet lots of Bobbys and Rays and Jimmys in North Carolina. I’m not sure it’s strange — but in the words of Liz Lemon, “If you’re called Jimmy when you are 55, that’s a dealbreaker.”

@Joan I wonder when people will start naming their kids LR1259 or something akin to computer/email names?

By: Joan Runnheim Olson

Joan Runnheim Olson — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:24:07 +0000

What an interesting topic! I’ve found myself wondering something like this before too. Unusual names seem to do well for musicians and professional athletes, but for CEO’s? I wonder if 10-20 years from now the person that aspires to be a C-level executive with an unusual sounding name won’t change it?

By: Alex Polston

Alex Polston — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:19:40 +0000

I think you will find that many of the stranger names are isolated to individuals from the same socioeconomic background. For example, I’ve noticed here in the southern United States that many lower middle class and working poor white people name their kids after Indian tribes. Dakota, Cherokee, etc. It is odd. An example of this in the news recently is balloon boy, whose name is Falcon.