Stereotyping of Names and Popularity in Grade-School Children

The relation between rated social desirability of first names and sociometric popularity status in elementary-school children was investigated. Popularity status was found to be highly correlated with the social-desirability value of the individual's first name as rated by members of his own organized youth group. However, more surprisingly, it was found that popularity was also correlated significantly with social-desirability values of names as rated by members of other groups relatively unfamiliar with the individual bearing that name. This latter correlation suggests certain social handicaps upon the child who bears a socially undesirable name, as well as important methodological contamination in sociometric studies of children's groups.