Monday, May 04, 2026

A rose by any other name...

The WaPo has a fun article showing the rightward or leftware tilt of a bunch of first and last names. It's not super-surprising that names common among Black and Jewish people tend to belong to Democrats, and names common to White Anglo-Saxon people tend to belong to Republicans. My name, Epstein, is Jewish, and wouldn't you know it, the name Epstein tilts hugely Democratic. Alex tilts a little bit blue. 

Where this survey is useful narratively is if you are naming a fictional character. If you want your reader to feel like your female NPC is 50ish, call her Lisa. 40ish, call her Jennifer. I often check out the US Census charts to see what a common name was around when my NPC was born.

Similarly, naming a character Brock or Darlene suggests a Republican, while Gracie and Mattie are probably Democrats. 

Handy, huh?

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