When a child is brought into the world, one of the first responsibilities a family has involves providing him or her with a name. This name will ultimately follow the child as they grow up and could even impact their future.
Some prefer nicknames to their true given name if it is disliked or easier to recognize. When it comes down to it, that individual must support themselves and their family by becoming employed and whether hourly or salary, one component on a resume or application can stand in the way – their name.
Aruna Chandrasekaran, professor at the Scott College of Business at Indiana State University said that society will never know of the true impact of name discrimination.
“I’ve served on search committees and it is something I do not allow,” she said. “I have anecdotal evidence of how names can impact a person.”
Chandrasekaran said that a friend of hers, an investment banker, who had a last name which was hard to pronounce changed his last name because of the difficulty people had saying the name and the lack of calls he received when job searching.
“It’s amazing how many phone calls he received compared to when he held a previous name,” she said.
Chilena Asomugha, a student at Ball State University, said that people may feel that she is of foreign descent and do not want to give her a chance.
“I feel that people will look at my name and not want to take the time to pronounce it. My mom made up my first name and my last name is Nigerian because that is where my dad is from.”
Chandrasekaran said that there is definitely a hidden prejudice with names during the hiring process and “people who are hiring would never come out and say what they do.”
The National Bureau of Economic Research stated that, “A job applicant with a name that sounds like it might belong to an African-American – say, Lakisha Washington or Jamal Jones – can find it harder to get a job. Despite laws against discrimination, affirmative action, a degree of employer enlightenment, and the desire by some businesses to enhance profits by hiring those most qualified regardless of race, African-Americans are twice as likely as whites to be unemployed and they earn nearly 25 percent less when they are employed.”
Names may have a hidden meaning within another culture or passed down through a family’s generations. There are names that are attached to specific ethnic groups. The imperative question lies at the moment of naming a child. Do parents honestly think about whether or not their child’s name could shove them into a stereotyped group?
Takisha Williamson, mother of 4-year-old Malia, said that she put great thought into her daughter’s name for reasons such as discrimination.
“Since I have a name that is often stereotyped as a ‘Black’ name, I wanted to give my daughter a name that was unique but neutral,” she said. “I found through research, children of various ethnic backgrounds had her name. I do feel that as Black women in corporate America assumptions about who you are is influenced by the name employers see on paper.”
Chandrasekaran said that in India, a person’s social class is known by their name and one can also tell where that person is from; all based off of a name. She believes it is essential for parents to think a name through before naming their child.
“My brother gave his daughter a long name dedicated to their Indian culture and I told him to remove all cultures to give her a fair chance,” she said. “If people have difficulty pronouncing then it could be a burden that follows them around. It could lead to discrimination. You can’t fight the shadow if it’s hidden and deep. You can’t prove it.”
