Top 10 ‘bad boy’ baby names
By Michael Inbar
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 6:13 a.m. PT, Fri., July 17, 2009
New parents may balk at naming their newborn boys such tried-and-true but yawn-inducing names as Michael or David — but a new study shows that if they play it safe, they may be doing their babies a favor.
Writing in Social Science Quarterly, Shippensburg University professor David Kalist says giving newborn males oddball, girly or strange first names may just help land them in jail.
The pair based their report on a study of some 15,000 names given to baby boys between 1987 and 1991. They found that the more unlikely the name, the more likely a boy is to commit a delinquent act.
In alphabetical order, the Top 10 “bad boy” names, according to Kalist, are Alec, Ernest, Garland, Ivan, Kareem, Luke, Malcolm, Preston, Tyrell and Walter.
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So, as noted above: dude, we're screwed.
Then again, have they heard of Alec Baldwin, Ernest Hemingway, Ivan the Terrible (oh, wait, point taken), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Luke Perry, Walt Disney (don't mess with him), and of course, Preston Ostler?
I think not. Your study sucks.
