i202 Fall 2009 School of Information, UC Berkeley

A recent study in Germany suggests that non-traditional first names are correlated with poor academic performances and bad behavior.

Surprisingly, at least for Americans, is the particularly poor performance associated with the name "Kevin". I've known some bad Jeffs, and even a few sketchy Erics, but Kevin? This guy?

Furthermore, the article makes an assumption that the name is the cause of the discrimination, rather than a host of other factors that don't appear to be controlled for like race and economic background. Still, can a name imply something beyond identity?