Ask Dr. Gil

Dear Dr. Gil,

There is a question that is continuing to become more urgent. This pertains to the child... it seems to me there is overwhelming empirical evidence suggesting an influence of a child's name and their particular fates or eventual personality characteristics.

There may be a common characteristic among all of the Denise's, or a Brenda's. I once knew a Lucy who was so exquisitely beautiful that forever I will have an irrational fondness for any girl with that name. Now we all know there is no real connection between all of the Lucys and natural, youthful beauty - but could all of the Ebenezers truly be scrooges?

Thanks,
tdstephens3



Dear tdstephens3,

You are dead on, and I'm glad someone has raised this question. There are INDEED names that carry with them punishments and negative consequences. Anyone who has ever seen The Breakfast Club knows that the Character "Bender," though fictional, lays some powerful truths on all of us. Listen here...

Here's something interesting about names, and something I've been following closely - isn't it a little weird that Jerry Seinfeld "just happened" to land the leading role in a TV show called Seinfeld? AND - his friend Drew Carey, with seemingly NO audition (ya, they did audition a couple guys, but who were they kidding) got the leading role in a TV show called The Drew Carey Show? Naturally this would lead one to believe that names like Seinfeld and Carey are names you can associate with success and a hard, determined work ethic. But my gut tells me this was a set-up all along and that somebody close to the actors was slipping a few bucks to the executive producers to get their clients those roles.

BUT, there are some names that are SOOO closely associated with success that they definitely should get ample consideration. Bush, is a great example. There are a ton of successful and loved Bush's. Let's see.....there's the Bush's that make those baked beans and have that silly dog that's always saying he's gonna sell the family recipe. What a NUT!!!! Wouldn't you want someone that silly in your family?? And then there's Adolphus Busch who made Budwiser beer. Another Nut!! What a great guy!!! A lot of people don't know this, but Adolphus was also in the Baseball Stadium building business and built with his bare hands (as I understand it), Busch Stadium, where the St. Louis Cardinals play. Let's see....there's gotta be some other good Bush's out there....hmmmm....actually no. I guess that's it. But as you can see - the name Bush at least has some potential, if only limited.

One thing I'm sure of though is that you DON'T want a name that starts with P! Like P P Head or P P Pants or anything along those lines. I was walking by this daycare playground on my way to Bingo and I heard all these kids "Hey, P P Pants" and "What's up P P Head," and I was like "Dang, I thought the in names were like Kaden and Cadence and stuff." Well, I guess it goes to show, the times they are a changin'. But those kids are gonna be MESSED UP, and I don't want to have to be the doctor that fixes them. No way.

Well, I hope that clarifies some things for you tstephens3.

Dr. Gil