Name your job? Maybe the other way around

It turns out that your name might be your destiny.

Or at least there's a correlation. According to a study done by Verdunt Labs (which is also a good description of a green Labrador retriever, assuming that you're OK with misspelling "verdant"), there is a connection between names and professions. The group studied the Social Security Administration's database of names and the Federal Election Commission's list of professions and found that certain first names turned up far more often in certain professions.

This isn't anything new. Back in the day, it was the last name – people named Mason were masons, people named Farmer were farmers, people named Smith were smiths and people named Guy Who Eats Other People's Food From The Company Refrigerator worked at your office. That was a standard naming convention.

This is different. This suggests that your first name leads you to a certain profession.

I spent a long time looking at the graphic that ran with the article, mostly it was to see if "Brad" appeared.

It didn't, but my guess is that most Brads are rich, arrogant characters at a country club in California-based coming-of-age movies filmed in the 1980s. But that's a guess based on my history.

In the study, some of the name-career choices seemed obvious, like the fact that rabbis are disproportionately named Shlomo, Judah and Chaim. And the most popular names for golfers are Tommy, Bobby, Johnny and Bud.

But what about guitarists? The study cites Mick, Richie, Trey, Sonny, Buddy and Eddie, which squares up with my experience. It wasn't Sholom Van Halen, was it? Or Bud Vedder? Historians are most often Herbert, Emma or Henry, which fits with the stereotype of old-fashioned names being interested in history.

Still, I was surprised by the fact that Penelope, Stella and Constance are more likely to be social workers. I guess their former jobs as characters in 19th century novels probably didn't last.

I'm fascinated by names. I love the annual lists that the Social Security Administration releases each year of the most popular names. I love when people have great stories about how they got their name or how they named their children. I spend a disproportionate amount of time wondering why people give their kids names that are hard to spell or that are a bad combination with their last names.

But the fact that certain names seem likely to lead you to certain professions is a game-changer for parents. When you're naming your kid, you may be helping them head toward a surprising career choice.

Based on the graphic, my sons were most likely to be a drummer or a football player, neither of which has happened.

Yet.

One last thing that's interesting to me. If this chart were accurate 45 years ago, "Sanford and Son" would likely have been about a lawyer and his son.

Don't bother me with facts. I'm thinking about Fred Sanford as an attorney while contemplating whether we made mistakes in naming our sons.

Shlomo Stanhope?

Brad Stanhope is a former Daily Republic editor. Reach him at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.